Kornelimünster Abbey (), also known as Abbey of the Abbot Saint Benedict of Aniane and Pope Cornelius, is a Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine monastery that has been integrated since 1972. The abbey is located in Aachen (in the Stadtbezirk, district of Kornelimünster/Walheim) in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.
History
The monastery was founded in 814 on the river Inde by Benedict of Aniane, an adviser to Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Louis the Pious (successor to Charlemagne). The monastery was at first known as the "Monastery of the Redeemer on the Inde". In the mid-9th century, the monastery became an Imperial abbey ("Reichsunmittelbar") and received large endowments of land, as well as Biblical or Wikt:Saviour, Saviour's relics: a loincloth, a Veil of Veronica, sudarium and two shroud-like cloths.
[Górny, Grzegorz. "The Aachen Relics", ''Witnesses to Mystery: Investigations into Christ's Relics'', Ignatius Press, 2013]
In 875, one of the shrouds was exchanged for a relic of the head of the martyred Pope Cornelius (died in 253), after which the abbey was known as ''Sancti Cornelii ad Indam'', and later as ''Kornelimünster''. (The full official title of the present monastery is the Abbey of the Abbot Saint Benedict of Aniane and Pope Cornelius).
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In the 12th century, a Priest of Aachen composed the famous ''Tafelgüterverzeichnis'', a registry of royal estates and what they owed the king's court. It is one of the earliest pieces of evidence for the extent of the German royal fisc.
Reichenstein Castle (Trechtingshausen), Burg Reichenstein, also known as "Falkenburg", began as church property under the Imperial Abbey of Kornelimünster. It was part of the parish of Saint Clement" in Trechtingshausen. Because it was so far away, the monastery appointed knights (Vögte) as bailiffs and protectors. They had their seat at Reichenstein Castle (Trechtingshausen), Reichenstein Castle. Over time, the bailiffs turned robber knights, getting rich off of boats traveling the River Rhine. In 1270, the monastery sold the whole parish of Saint Clement to the Cathedral Chapter at Mainz and St. Maria ad Gradus, also at Mainz.
In 1500, the Imperial abbey (''Reichsabtei'') of Kornelimünster became part of the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle.
In 1802, the territory of Kornelimünster came under French First Republic, French rule, and the abbey was dissolved in the German Mediatisation, secularisation. The former abbey church of St Cornelius became the parish church, and the remaining abbey buildings became property of the ''States of Germany, Bundesland'' of North Rhine-Westphalia. Kornelimünster came under the Seat of local government, Mairie system in the Kanton Burtscheid. In 1815, Kornelimünster became part of the Kingdom of Prussia and of the district (''Landkreis'') of Aachen. The buildings of the former Kornelimünster Imperial Abbey are now a museum of modern art.][
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Second foundation
The monastery was re-founded by the Benedictines in 1906 about a kilometre away in the western part of Kornelimünster by monks from Merkelbeek Abbey in the Netherlands. At first the monks worked in parish ministry, before opening a boarding school in 1948. Since the school closed in 1988, they now focus on retreats and hospitality.[ Kornelimünster is on the Camino de Santiago, Way of St. James. Although not a hostel, the abbey can provide accommodations for pilgrims if booked in advance."Pilger", Abtei Kornelimünster]
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Kornelimünster is a member of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation. It is an extra-provincial monastery, subject directly to the Abbot President of the Congregation. As of 2022, there were eight monks at Kornelimünster.["Kornelimünster Abbey", The Subiaco-Cassinese Congregation]
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See also
* Kornelimünster
References
Further reading
*
External links
Kornelimünster Abbey official website
Monumente-Online:Aachen - Notes on the Benedictine Abbey of Kornelimünster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kornelimunster Abbey
Benedictine monasteries in Germany
Christian monasteries established in the 9th century
Buildings and structures in Aachen
Monasteries in North Rhine-Westphalia
Imperial abbeys disestablished in 1802–03
de:Kornelimünster/Walheim, Kornelimünster/Walheim