St. George's Abbey, Isny () in

Isny im Allgäu Isny im Allgäu (, ; Low Alemannic: ''Isny im Allgai'') is a town in south-eastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is part of the district of Ravensburg, in the western, Württembergish part of the Allgäu region. Isny was a Free Imperial Ci ...

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 ...

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 sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, is a former

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 ...

abbey founded in 1096 and secularised in 1802.

History

St. George's Abbey was founded in 1096 by the Counts of

Altshausen Altshausen is a small Swabian municipality with around 4,100 inhabitants, near the city of Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg, in southern Germany. Geography Altshausen is situated in Upper Swabia, about 40 kilometers north of Lake Constance. Nor ...

- Veringen. In 1106 the foundation was confirmed by

Pope Paschal II Pope Paschal II (; 1050 1055 – 21 January 1118), born Raniero Raineri di Bleda, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was creat ...

. Towards the end of the 12th century a Benedictine nunnery was also established in Isny but this was moved in about 1189 to Rohrdorf. St. George's Abbey was responsible for the foundation of the town of Isny, which was developed as a market at the end of the 12th century and received municipal status as early as 1235. Both abbey and town enjoyed economic success, abruptly terminated by the plague in 1350, which almost wiped the abbey out. During the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

the town of Isny became

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and in 1534 the abbey church was attacked and its sacred images destroyed. The abbey's economic situation only improved — temporarily — in the first third of the 17th century, which was brought to an end by a disastrous fire in 1631. The abbey did not recover until the time of abbot Alfons Torelli (1701–31). It did not become 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 ...

until 1781, as member of the Bench of Swabian Prelates. It was secularised in 1803, at the same time as the town of Isny was mediatised, when both became part of the territory of Count Otto Wilhelm von Quadt-Wykradt.

Buildings

The first monastic buildings and the Romanesque abbey church burnt down in 1284. Immediately after the fire a

hall church A hall church is a Church (building), church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height. In England, Flanders and the Netherlands, it is covered by parallel roofs, typically, one for each vessel, whereas in Germany there is often one s ...

was constructed, which was dedicated in 1288. In the relatively brief period of prosperity that occurred in the first third of the 17th century much refurbishment and new building work took place, all of which were destroyed by the catastrophic fire in 1631. In about 1656 Michael Beer built 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 ...

''Neue Bau'' ("new building") and also repaired parts of the ruins of the former buildings. The present abbey church was built by Giulio Barbieri between 1660 and 1666; the

onion dome An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate (drum) upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. They taper smoothly upwards to a point. It is a typical ...

was added in 1709. In 1757-58 Johann Georg Gilt (of the

Wessobrunner School The Wessobrunner School is the name for a group of Baroque stucco-workers that, beginning at the end of the 17th century, developed in the Benedictine Wessobrunn Abbey in Bavaria, Germany. The names of more than 600 stucco-workers who emerged ...

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

ists) and Johann Michael Holzhey refurbished the church interior in the

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 ...

style. After secularisation the monastic buildings served as the castle of the count and family. During the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

it accommodated the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...

until 1943. The premises were later used as an old people's home and nursing home.

Sources and references

* Reinhardt, Rudolf, 1996. ''Reichsabtei St. Georg in Isny 1096-1802. Beiträge zur Geschichte und Kunst des 900jährigen Benediktinerklosters.'' Konrad: Weissenhorn.

External links

*
Klöster in Baden-Württemberg: Benediktinerabtei St. Georg Isny
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George's Abbey, Isny Monasteries in Baden-Württemberg Benedictine monasteries in Germany Imperial abbeys 1096 establishments in Europe Christian monasteries established in the 1090s Imperial abbeys disestablished in 1802–03