Rottenmünster Abbey, also the Imperial Nunnery of Rottenmünster (german: Kloster Rottenmünster), was a Cistercian abbey located near Rottweil in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

. The self-ruling Imperial Abbey was secularized in the course of the German mediatization of 1802–1803 and its territory annexed to the Duchy of Württemberg. The monastery was closed in 1850. The buildings of the former abbey now house a hospital.

History

In 1221, a branch of a sister community was formed at Hochmauern, south of Rottweil, thus founding the future monastery. On 9 May 1224,

Pope Honorius III Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of impor ...

inducted the monastery into the General Chapter of the Cistercians. The Abbot of Salem, Eberhard von Rohrdorf, appointed the first Abbess, Williburgis. In 1237, Emperor Frederick II raised Rottenmünster to

imperial immediacy Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular pri ...

and commended the protection of the monastery to the

imperial city In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

of Rottweil. Through donations and dowries, the monastery collected land between the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

and Swabian Alb. The lands contained about 3,000 inhabitants and produced an annual income of about 30,000 guilders (in 1803). The Abbess was a member of the Imperial Diet and the Swabian Imperial Circle. After the peak of 100 nuns at the end of the 14th century, the general population settled to between 20 and 30 nuns. During 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 ...

, the monastery was looted by roving troops, and in 1643 the monastery was burned down by troops of the Duke of Württemberg. In 1662, only 14 women under vow and three lay nuns lived in the monastery. In the 18th century, the number of sisters rose to above 30. As a result of the Final Recess of 1803, the territory of the monastery was

secularized 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 ...

and taken over on 23 November 1802 by Württemberg. Some 24 women under vow, four novices, and 14 lay sisters remained in the monastery. In 1826, the last Abbess Juliana Mayer died. In 1850, the last living sister, Franziska Gaupp, left the monastery. This ended its use as a Cistercian abbey.

Hospital

In 1898, a mental health institution was set up in the convent rooms, from which today's Vinzenz von Paul Hospital developed.

Abbesses

*1237 Ida *1290 Adelheid von Grieningen *1328 Katharina von Triberg *1343 Adelheid Diepolt *1351 Anna Boller *1388 Katharina Gieringer *1419 Brigitta Kopp *1436 Elisabeth von Rothenstein * to 1475 Beatrix von Enzberg *1657-87 Ursula Scherlin *1687-1725 Maria Williburg Frey *1796-1803 Maria Juliana Maier

References

13th-century churches in Germany Cistercian nunneries in Germany Monasteries in Baden-Württemberg {{Germany-hist-stub