Ilmmünster Abbey ( or ''Stift Ilmmünster'') was a collegiate foundation (''Kollegiatstift'') of canons, formerly a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

, in Ilmmünster,

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, 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 Tegernsee Abbey ( German ''Kloster Tegernsee'' or ''Abtei Tegernsee'') is a former Benedictine monastery in the town and district of Tegernsee in Bavaria. Both the abbey and the town that grew up around it are named after the Tegernsee, the lake ...

, also founded by Adalbert and Otker. Eio is reckoned as Ilmmünster's first abbot. He obtained for the new monastery the

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

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 Conrad III (25 March 1252 – 29 October 1268), called ''the Younger'' or ''the Boy'', but usually known by the diminutive Conradin (, ), was the last direct heir of the House of Hohenstaufen. He was Duke of Swabia (1254–1268) and nominal King ...

, the last of the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

kings. Distinguished canons included Albert von March, Imperial chancellor, and

Nicholas of Cusa Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – 11 August 1464), also referred to as Nicholas of Kues and Nicolaus Cusanus (), was a German Catholic bishop and polymath active as a philosopher, theologian, jurist, mathematician, and astronomer. One of the first Ger ...

, cardinal and

Papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

.Peter Pfister 1981 In 1493,

Albert V, Duke of Bavaria Albert V (German: ''Albrecht V.'') (29 February 1528 – 24 October 1579) was Duke of Bavaria from 1550 until his death. He was born in Munich to William IV and Maria Jacobäa of Baden. Early life Albert was educated at Ingolstadt by Catholic ...

, despite strong local opposition, transferred the canons and the relics of Saint Arsatius, as well as those of

Schliersee Schliersee is a small town (Markt) and a municipality in the district of Miesbach in Bavaria in Germany. It is named after the nearby Lake Schliersee. It comprises the districts Schliersee (town), , , , Josefsthal and Spitzingsee. Among the p ...

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 In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

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