Weingarten Abbey

Weingarten Abbey
	Weingarten Abbey
	Reichsabtei Weingarten
	Imperial Abbey of the Holy Roman Empire
	; Coat of arms of Weingarten
	Weingarten Abbey, 1525
Capital	Weingarten
Government	Theocracy
Historical era	Middle Ages

Weingarten1917 — Weingarten, showing the abbey buildings on the Martinsberg, 1917

Weingarten Abbey or St. Martin's Abbey (German: formerly Reichsabtei Weingarten (until 1803)) is a Benedictine monastery on the Martinsberg (St. Martin's Mount) in Weingarten near Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg (Germany).

First foundation[]

In 1056, Welf I, Duke of Bavaria, founded a Benedictine monastery on the Martinsberg, overlooking the village of Altdorf, an inheritance from his mother. The name Weingarten ("vineyard") is documented from about 1123. (In 1865, the village took the name of the monastery to become the present town of Weingarten). He settled it with monks from Altomünster Abbey. In 1126, Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, withdrew here after his abdication; he died the same year and was buried in the abbey church.

The monks worked among other things at manuscript illumination. Their most famous work is the Berthold Sacramentary of 1217, now in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York. Also of especial note is the Welfenchronik, written and illustrated in about 1190, chronicling and glorifying the House of Welf which had its seat at Ravensburg nearby.

The monastery was elevated to the status of a "Reichsabtei" (i.e., independent of all territorial lordship except that of the monarchy) in 1274.

It acquired territory of 306 km², stretching from the Allgäu to the Bodensee and including many forests and vineyards, and was one of the richest monasteries in southern Germany.

From 1715, the Romanesque abbey church, constructed between 1124 and 1182, was largely demolished, and replaced between 1715–1724 by a large and richly decorated Baroque church, which since 1956 has been a papal basilica minor. This church was intended to stand within a monastic site built to the ideal layout, but this undertaking was only partially completed as the north wing would have blocked the via regia or imperial road. Following the order on April 27, 1728 to stop construction on the north wing, the southern wing was extended and the east wing was completed.

In 1803, during secularisation, the abbey was dissolved. At first, it became part of the possessions of the House of Orange-Nassau, and then in 1806 part of the Kingdom of Württemberg. The buildings were used inter alia as a factory and as a barracks.

Second foundation[]

In 1922, Weingarten was re-founded and re-settled by Benedictines from Beuron Archabbey and from the English Abbey of Erdington (in a suburb of Birmingham) which had itself been settled from Beuron. In 1940, the monks were expelled by the National Socialists, but were able to return after the end of the war.

The monks are responsible for the management of the "Blutritt", or pilgrimage to the Reliquary of the Holy Blood in the abbey church; they also run a guesthouse.

Weingarten belongs to the Beuronese Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. It is a monastery of two ecclesiastical traditions, or "rites". One part of the monks follow the Roman observance, the other part the Byzantine observance.

Buildings[]

The abbey and the St. Martin's Basilica are a major attraction on the tourist route known as the Oberschwäbische Barockstrasse (Upper Swabian Baroque Route).

The current church was built between 1715 and 1724 in the Italian-German Baroque style according to plans by Franz Beer. The church is the second largest church in Germany^[1], and is the largest Baroque church in Germany. The 102 meter long church is known as the "Swabian St. Peter's" since this church is almost exactly one-half the size of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome^[2].

Within the church is the famous Gabler Organ, a church organ that was built between 1735 and 1750 by Joseph Gabler. The organ has over 60 registers, 169 ranks, 63 voices^[3] and over 6600 pipes^[2]. It is considered the 44^th largest organ in the world^[3].

A wing of the abbey precincts accommodates the present monastery. Other parts of the former abbey house the Pädagogische Hochschule Weingarten and the Academy of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.

Relic of the Holy Blood of Jesus[]

The greatest treasure of Weingarten was its famous relic of the Precious Blood, still preserved in the church of Weingarten. Its legend runs thus: Longinus, the soldier who opened the Jesus' side with a lance, caught some of the Sacred Blood and preserved it in a leaden box, which later he buried at Mantua. Being miraculously discovered in 804, the relic was solemnly exalted by Pope Leo III, but again buried during the Hungarian and Norman invasions. In 1048 it was re-discovered and solemnly exalted by Pope Leo IX in the presence of the emperor, Henry III, and many other dignitaries. It was divided into three parts, one of which the pope took to Rome, the other was given to the emperor, Henry III, and the third remained at Mantua. Henry III bequeathed his share of the relic to Count Baldwin V of Flanders, who gave it to his daughter Juditha. After her marriage to Guelph IV of Bavaria, Juditha presented the relic to Weingarten. The solemn presentation took place in 1090, on the Friday after the feast of the Ascension, and it was stipulated that annually on the same day, which came to be known as Blutfreitag, the relic should be carried in solemn procession.

The procession was prohibited in 1812, but since 1849 it again takes place every year. It is popularly known as the Blutritt. The relic is carried by a rider, der heilige Blutritter, on horseback, followed by many other riders, and many thousand people on foot. the reliquary, formerly of solid gold, set with numerous jewels, and valued at about 70,000 florins, was confiscated by the Government at the suppression of the monastery and replaced by a gilded copper imitation.

Abbots of Weingarten[]

Alto c. 750-ca. 770 (in Altomünster)
Marinus
Etto c. 780
Gelzo 780-792
...
Rudolf c. 1000-1025
Eberhard c. 1025-c. 1040
Heinrich I 1040-c. 1070 (move to Weingarten 1055)
Beringer c. 1070-c. 1080
Adilhelm of Luxemburg c. 1080-c. 1088
Walicho c. 1088-c. 1108
Kuno Truchseß of Waldburg-Thann c. 1109-1132
Arnold c. 1133-c. 1140
Gerhard Truchseß of Waldburg-Thann c. 1141-c. 1149
Burkhard c. 1149-c. 1160
Dietmar of Matsch c. 1160-c. 1180
Marquard of Triberg c. 1180-c. 1181
Werner of Markdorff c. 1181-c. 1188
Saint Meingoz of Lechsgemünd c. 1188-1200
Berthold of Heimburg 1200-1232
Hugh de Montfort 1232-1242
Konrad I of Wagenbach 1242-1265
Hermann of Biechtenweiler 1265-1299
Friedrich Heller von Hellerstein 1300-1315
Konrad II von Ibach 1315-1336
Konrad III von Überlingen 1336-1346
Heinrich II von Ibach 1346-1363
Ludwig von Ibach-Heldenberg 1363-1393
Johann I von Essendorf 1393-1418
Johann II Blaarer von Guttingen und Wartensee 1418-1437
Erhard von Freybank 1437-1455 (d. 1462)
Jobst Penthelin von Ravensburg 1455-1477
Kaspar Schieck 1477-1491
Hartmann von Knorringen-Burgau 1491-1520
Gerwig Blarer von Görsperg 1520-1567
Johann III Halblizel 1567-1575
Johann Christoph Rastner von Zellersberg 1575-1586 (d. 1590)
Georg Wegelin 1586-1627
Franz Dietrich 1627-1637
Domenicus I Laumann von Liebenau 1637-1673
Alfons von Stadelmayer 1673-1683
Willibald Kobold 1683-1697
Sebastian Hyller 1697-1730
Alfons II Jobst 1730-1738
Placidus Renz 1738-1745 (d. 1748)
Domenicus II Schnitzer 1746-1784
Anselm Ritter 1784-1803

New foundation:

Ansgar Höckelmann 1922-1934 (or 1943)
Konrad Winter 1934 (or 1943)-1953
Wilfrid Fenker 1953-1975
Dr. Adalbert Metzinger 1975-1982
Dr. Lukas Weichenrieder 1982-2004
since 2004 Archabbot Theodor Hogg of Beuron has been administrator of Weingarten.

Notes[]

↑ Michael Ott (1913). "Weingarten". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Weingarten. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 City of Weingarten Website (German) accessed August 25, 2008
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 The Worlds Largest Organs accessed August 25, 2008

References[]

Michael Heinlen, An Early Image of a Mass of St. Gregory and Devotion to the Holy Blood at Weingarten Abbey, Gesta, Vol. 37, No. 1 (1998), pp. 55-62