Plankstetten Abbey (Kloster Plankstetten) is a monastery of the Benedictines located between

Berching Berching ( bar, Bacham) is a town in the district of Neumarkt in Bavaria, Germany. Berching is a historical town with a fully preserved town wall and low streamlet. The first settlement was registered in 883, so it is more than 1100 years old. ...

and Beilngries in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is a member of the Bavarian Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation.

First foundation

The monastery was founded in 1129 as a private monastery of the bishops of Eichstätt by Count Ernst of Hirschberg and his brother Gebhard of Hirschberg, Bishop of Eichstätt. The Romanesque crypt remains from the time of the foundation. After the decline in monastic standards in the 15th century, the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

was reformed by Abbot Ulrich IV Dürner (1461–94), who also founded the brewery. The abbey was badly damaged during the German Peasants' War (1525) and again in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

(1618–48). Major buildings works in the Baroque style were undertaken from the end of the 17th century. Under Abbot Romanus Dettinger (1694–1703), he created the entrance gateway with the abbot's lodging above it, the Prelates' Hall and the Banqueting Hall, as well as the corner tower on the way to the inner courtyard. The next abbot, Dominikus II Heuber (1704–11), continued the building works with the move of the sacristy and the construction of the new brewery (now the library). Later in the century, Abbot Dominikus IV Fleischmann (1757–92) undertook the refurbishment of the abbey church. The crossing chapels are due to him; their stucco work was carried out by Johann Jakob Berg, stucco master to the court of

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese ...

. Dominikus IV was also responsible for the guesthouse opposite the main gateway. In 1806, in the course of the

secularisation In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

, the monastery was dissolved and the buildings and estates auctioned off.

Second foundation

As early as 1856, there were plans to re-found the abbey, but these came to nothing, as the government authorities refused to give the necessary consents. Finally, in 1904, thanks to the financial support of the Barons Cramer-Klett, Plankstetten was re-settled as a priory of

Scheyern Abbey Scheyern Abbey, formerly also Scheyern Priory (german: Kloster Scheyern), is a house of the Benedictine Order in Scheyern in Bavaria. First foundation The monastery at Scheyern was established in 1119 as the final site of the community founde ...

and was raised again to the status of abbey in 1917. A school of agriculture was opened in

in 1907. It was closed by the

National Socialists Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

in 1934. In 1958, a ''"

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

"'' with a boarding house was opened in

. The school closed in 1988. This caused the abbey to re-examine their role and possible options, and the community now runs a training centre, a monastery shop, a farm, a nursery for plants, a butchery and a bakery, which have been organic since 1994. The boarding facilities are now used as a guesthouse. The first Young People's Vespers took place in Plankstetten on 17 October 1980 and have since become a regular event on the third Friday in every month. They are based on the youth vespers of the Benedictine abbey at

Kremsmünster Kremsmünster is a town in Kirchdorf an der Krems District, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Settled in 777, it is home to the Kremsmünster Abbey. The Abbey was founded 777 by Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and is one of the oldest abbeys o ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and on the prayers of Taizé. The abbey also has parish responsibilities for Plankstetten and a neighbouring village.

External links

Plankstetten Abbey website

Klöster in Bayern
{{Authority control Benedictine monasteries in Germany Monasteries in Bavaria 1120s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1129 establishments in Europe Religious organizations established in the 1120s Christian monasteries established in the 12th century