Ilmmünster Abbey

Ilmmünster Abbey ( or ''Stift Ilmmünster'') was a collegiate foundation (''Kollegiatstift'') of canons, formerly a Benedictine monastery, in Ilmmünster, Bavaria, Germany. The church continues in use as a parish church.

History

The Benedictine monastery was founded in about 762 by the brothers Adalbert and Otker, members of the Huosi, an ancient Bavarian noble family, and their nephew Eio (or Uto), as a daughter house of Tegernsee Abbey, also founded by Adalbert and Otker. Eio is reckoned as Ilmmünster's first abbot. He obtained for the new monastery the relics of Saint Arsatius, to whom the monastery was dedicated. Archaeological remains indicate that the buildings were substantial, but little is known of the monastery otherwise. It may have continued unnoted by the written record, or even been extinguished entirely, perhaps as early as about 925 in the secularisations of Arnulf the Wicked.Klöster in Bayern: ''Stift Ilmmünster ? Romanische Baukunst an der Ilm''
Laura Scherr

In 1060 under Margrave Ernst a collegiate foundation (''Kollegiatstift'') of canons was set up here. If any trace of the earlier monastery or monastic community remained by that time, the new foundation replaced it. Besides ministering to several parishes, the new foundation ran a school, which gained a high reputation. Among its pupils was Conradin, the last of the Hohenstaufen kings. Distinguished canons included Albert von March, Imperial chancellor, and Nicholas of Cusa, cardinal and Papal legate.Peter Pfister 1981

In 1493, Albert V, Duke of Bavaria, despite strong local opposition, transferred the canons and the relics of Saint Arsatius, as well as those of Schliersee with their relics of Saint Sixtus, to increase the standing of his newly-created collegiate foundation Zu Unserer Lieben Frau at the Frauenkirche in Munich. The canons' church of Saint Arsatius, deprived of its relics, lost its function as a centre of pilgrimage, and became a parish church.The relics were returned to Ilmmünster in 1846. Such property and assets as remained were sold off in 1802 during the secularisation of Bavaria, but the impressive church remains.

Notes and references

Sources

* Backmund, Norbert: ''Die Kollegiat- und Kanonissenstifte in Bayern'', Windberg 1973, pp. 71f.;
* Bauerreiß, Romuald: "Die Stifter von Ilmmünster", in: ''Studien und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Benediktinerordens und seiner Zweige'' 60 (1946), pp. 32–37;
* Bosl, Karl (ed.): ''Handbuch der historischen Stätten Deutschlands Bd. 7 (Bayern)'', Stuttgart 1961, pp. 305f.;
* Fastlinger Max: ''Die wirtschaftliche Bedeutung der bayerischen Klöster in der Zeit der Agilulfinger'', Freiburg i. Br. 1903, pp. 162f.;
* Hemmerle, Josef: ''Die Benediktinerklöster in Bayern'' (= ''Germania Benedictina II: Bayern''), München 1970, pp. 119f.;
* Pfister, Peter: ''Das Kollegiatstift Ilmmünster'', Pfaffenhofen 1981;
* Pfister, Peter: ''Ilmmünster'', Regensburg 1995;
* Sage, Walter: Ausgrabungen in der Pfarr- und ehemaligen Stiftskirche St. Arsatius zu Ilmmünster, Landkreis Pfaffenhofen, in: Beiträge zur Altbayerischen Kirchengeschichte 31 (1977), S. 165-174.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilmmunster
Monasteries in Bavaria
Benedictine monasteries in Germany
760s establishments
Christian monasteries established in the 8th century