Salem is a municipality in the Bodensee district of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, 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 i ...

Southern Germany Southern Germany (, ) is a region of Germany that includes the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, which includes the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia in present-day Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and the southern portion of Hesse ...

, located north of

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

, with a population of 11,100.

Geography

The community is located about east of

Überlingen Überlingen (; ) is a German city on the northern shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Baden-Württemberg near the German-Swiss border, border with Switzerland. After the city of Friedrichshafen, it is the second-largest city in the Bodenseek ...

and north east of

Meersburg Meersburg () is a town in Baden-Württemberg in the southwest of Germany. It is on Lake Constance. It is known for its medieval city. The lower town ("Unterstadt") and upper town ("Oberstadt") are reserved for pedestrians only, and connected by t ...

Linzgau Linzgau is a historic region in Southern Germany, Southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located north of Lake Constance and south of the Danube valley. Geography The region is bounded by the shore of Lake Constance on the sou ...

mainly in the valley of

Linzer Aach The Seefelder Aach is a river in the districts of Sigmaringen and Bodenseekreis, Tübingen region, southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is approximately 55 kilometres long and flows into Lake Constance. It has a catchment area of 279 k ...

. The district Oberstenweiler is situated on a side peak of the

Gehrenberg Gehrenberg is a mountain of Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixte ...

up to height. The district area covers approximately (as of December 31, 2014).

Neighboring communities

The community is adjacent to

Bermatingen Bermatingen is a commune in the district of Bodensee (district), Bodensee in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. __TOC__ Geography Bermatingen is located 4 km west of Markdorf in the valley of the Seefelder Aach. It is bordered to the north by ...

Heiligenberg Heiligenberg is a municipality and a village in the Bodensee (district), Bodensee district in Baden-Württemberg, about seven kilometres north of Salem, Baden-Württemberg, Salem, in Germany. Location and climate Heiligenberg (literally: the H ...

, Deggenhausertal, Frickingen and

Uhldingen-Mühlhofen Uhldingen-Mühlhofen is a town at the northern shore of Lake Constance, Germany between Überlingen and Meersburg. The town is a popular holiday destination and home to the Pfahlbauten open-air museum in Unteruhldingen and the Birnau basilica. ...

Municipality arrangement

The town of Salem consists of eleven member locations.Vgl. ''Salem''. in: ''Das Land Baden-Württemberg. Amtliche Beschreibung nach Kreisen und Gemeinden. Band VII: Regierungsbezirk Tübingen'', Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, . S. 590–596. The locations (as at 31 December 2014) are listed below:Einwohner und Fläche
der Gemeinde Salem; retrieved 24. February 2015 *Salem Stefansfeld (chief town) *Beuren *Buggensegel *Grasbeuren *Mimmenhausen *Mittelstenweiler *Neufrach *Oberstenweiler *Rickenbach *Tüfingen *Weildorf

History

For a detailed history of the monastery, see the article about

Salem Abbey Salem Abbey () was a very prominent Cistercian monastery at Salem in the district of Bodensee, about ten miles from Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The buildings are now owned by the State of Baden-Württemberg and are open for tours a ...

. The area has been populated since at least the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. Beginning in the 3rd century, the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE ...

and, later, the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

established several villages, including the small settlement of Salemanneswilare (later Salmannsweiler). Salem Abbey, founded by the Order of

Cistercians The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

, was established here in 1134. It quickly achieved the rank of an

imperial abbey Princely abbeys (, ''Fürststift'') and Imperial abbeys (, ''Reichskloster'', ''Reichsstift'', ''Reichsgotthaus'') were religious establishments within the Holy Roman Empire which enjoyed the status of imperial immediacy (''Reichsunmittelbarke ...

. From about 1285 to 1425, the

High Gothic High Gothic was a period of Gothic architecture in the 13th century, from about 1200 to 1280, which saw the construction of a series of refined and richly decorated cathedrals of exceptional height and size. It appeared most prominently in France ...

Salem Münster (Minster) was built, and it has been preserved until the current day. During the 17th century, the monastery had to cope with serious setbacks, including the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, which brought death and destruction to many areas. In 1697, a fire destroyed not only most of the buildings, but also numerous art treasures owned by the abbey. Subsequently, under the master builder Franz Beer of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

, the Baroque buildings currently standing on the site were built. Among other things, Abbot Anselm II Schwab founded an Orphans' Fund in 1749 that is considered the first

savings bank A savings bank is a financial institution that is not run on a profit-maximizing basis, and whose original or primary purpose is collecting deposits on savings accounts that are invested on a low-risk basis and receive interest. Savings banks ha ...

in Germany. Anselm also had the pilgrimage church Birnau built on the shores of Lake Constance. The heyday of the monastery ended with the

German mediatization German mediatisation (; ) was the major redistribution and reshaping of territorial holdings that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany by means of the subsumption and Secularization (church property), secularisation of a large number of ...

in 1803. It was secularized, and the territory fell to the

Margraviate of Baden The Margraviate of Baden () was a historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire. Spread along the right banks of the Upper Rhine in south-western Germany, it was named a margraviate in 1112 and existed until 1535, when it was split into the tw ...

Culture and sights

The

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery of

was founded in 1134, when the knight Guntram von Adelsreute donated land for its establishment. The abbey already had its own

scriptorium A scriptorium () was a writing room in medieval European monasteries for the copying and illuminating of manuscripts by scribes. The term has perhaps been over-used—only some monasteries had special rooms set aside for scribes. Often they ...

in the 12th century and formed one of the most important monastery libraries in Europe. Salem Internat 1

Currently, the grounds are home to the middle school campus of

Schule Schloss Salem Schule Schloss Salem (Anglicisation: ''School of Salem Castle'') is a boarding school with campuses in Salem and Überlingen in Baden-Württemberg, Southern Germany. It offers the German Abitur and the International Baccalaureate (IB). With se ...

, a boarding school founded in 1920 by

Kurt Hahn Kurt Matthias Robert Martin Hahn (5 June 1886 – 14 December 1974) was a German educator. He was decisive in founding Stiftung Louisenlund, Schule Schloss Salem, Gordonstoun, Outward Bound, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and the first of the U ...

and

Prince Max of Baden Maximilian, Margrave of Baden (''Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm''; 10 July 1867 – 6 November 1929),Almanach de Gotha. ''Haus Baden (Maison de Bade)''. Justus Perthes, Gotha, 1944, p. 18, (French). also known as Max von Baden, was a Germ ...

. The abbey complex covers a total of 17 hectares. Other sights are the Gothic-style

Salem Minster Salem Minster (German language, German: ''Salemer Münster'') is the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic parish church of the community of Salem, Baden-Württemberg, Salem, Baden-Württemberg and was the abbey church of the former imperial Salem Ab ...

(the former church of the abbey complex) and the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

chapel.

Sports

In summer, the Schlosssee (castle lake) attracts swimmers from all over the region. There are also tennis courts, a football and athletics stadium, sports grounds, sports halls and rehearsal rooms for teams.Peter Schober: ''Salem. Salem ist nicht Hintertupfingen''. In: ''Die Region stellt sich vor. Wir sind hier''. Sonderbeilage des ''

Südkurier The ''Südkurier'' is a regional daily newspaper in Germany serving the regions northwest of Lake Constance, Hochrhein and Black Forest with its headquarters in Konstanz. The paper appears with a circulation of around 130,000, six times per we ...

'' vom 19. November 2010, S. 8.

Teams

Fanfarenzug Salem during the day of open doors on 14 September 2014 in Salem Monastery and Palace. Salem has numerous clubs, including the Fanfarenzug Salem.Vereine in Salem (Baden).

Regular events

The Schloss Seefest Salem, one of the largest open-air events in the Lake Constance region, is held every first summer holiday weekend. International artists perform large outdoor concerts on the castle grounds in the lakeside park.

Notable people

Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer (6 March 1696 (baptized) – 2 January 1770) was an important Rococo stuccoist and sculptor, active in southern Germany and Switzerland. He dominated artistic production in the region around Lake Constance with his wo ...

(1696–1770),

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

plasterer and sculptor * Johann Baptist von Keller (1774–1845),

Bishop of Rottenburg The Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg, '' B ...

Maximilian, Margrave of Baden Maximilian, Margrave of Baden (Maximilian Andreas Friedrich Gustav Ernst August Bernhard Prinz und Markgraf von Baden; 3 July 1933 – 29 December 2022), also known as Max von Baden, was a German businessman and the head of House of Baden. Thro ...

(1933–2022), head of the House of Baden 1963–2022. * Bernhard, Margrave of Baden (born 1970), German prince and head of the House of Baden since 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salem, Baden-Wurttemberg Bodenseekreis