The Abbey of Echternach is 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 the town of

Echternach Echternach (, ; or locally ) is a commune with town status in the canton of Echternach, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town in Luxembourg. History The town grew around the Abbey of Echt ...

, in eastern

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. The abbey was founded in the 7th century by St

Willibrord Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) was an Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon monk, bishop, and missionary. He became the first Diocese of Utrecht (695–1580), Bishop of Utrecht in what is now the Netherlands, dying at Echternach in Luxembourg, and ...

, the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of Luxembourg. For three hundred years, it benefited from the patronage of a succession of rulers, and was the most powerful institution in Luxembourg. The abbey is currently a popular

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...

mostly on account of an annual dancing procession that is held every

Whit Tuesday Whit Tuesday (syn. ''Whittuesday'', ''Whitsun Tuesday'') is the Christian holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost Monday, the third day of the week beginning on Pentecost. Pentecost is a movable feast in the Christian calendar dependent up ...

. Tens of thousands of tourists,

day-tripper A day trip is a visit to a tourist destination or visitor attraction from a person's home, hotel, or hostel in the morning, returning to the same lodging in the evening. The day trip is a form of recreational travel and leisure to a location tha ...

pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

s, and

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

visit Echternach to witness or participate in the traditional ceremony.

History

Willibrord

Located by the River Sauer, Echternach had originally been the site of a 1st-century

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

villa. By the 6th century, the estate had been passed to the

see of Trier The Diocese of Trier (), in English historically also known as ''Treves'' () from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.Irmina of Oeren granted the

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

Willibrord,

Bishop of Utrecht List of bishops and archbishops of the diocese and archdioceses of Utrecht. Medieval diocese from 695 to 1580 Founders of the Utrecht diocese * * * * * Bishops * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

, land at Echternach to build a larger monastery, appointing Willibrord as

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

. In part, the choice was due to Willibrord's reputation as a talented proselytiser (he is known as the ''Apostle to the

Frisians The Frisians () are an ethnic group indigenous to the German Bight, coastal regions of the Netherlands, north-western Germany and southern Denmark. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland an ...

''). Willibrord opened the first church at Echternach in 700 with financial backing from

Pepin of Herstal Pepin II (c. 635 – 16 December 714), commonly known as Pepin of Herstal, was a Franks, Frankish statesman and military leader who was the de facto ruler of Francia as the Mayor of the Palace from 680 until his death. He took the title Duke ...

. Pepin's son,

Charles Martel Charles Martel (; – 22 October 741), ''Martel'' being a sobriquet in Old French for "The Hammer", was a Franks, Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of ...

, founder of the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

dynasty, had his son

Pepin the Short the Short (; ; ; – 24 September 768), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian dynasty, Carolingian to become king. Pepin was the son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude of H ...

baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

at Echternach in 714. In addition to Carolingian support, Willibrord's abbey at Echternach had the backing of

Wilfrid Wilfrid ( – 709 or 710) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and beca ...

, with whom he had served at

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...

. Willibrord secured the backing of many Irish monks, who would become part of the first settlement at Echternach. Willibrord spent much time at Echternach, and died there in 739. Willibrord was buried in the oratory, which soon became a place of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

, particularly after he was

canonised Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sai ...

.Rao, Sarita. "Architectural Icon: Echternach Abbey", ''Luxembourg Times'', June 4, 2022
/ref> In 751, Pepin declared the Abbey of Echternach a 'royal abbey', and granted it

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...

Carolingian Renaissance

Beornrad, the third abbot of Echternach, was a great favourite of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

, and was promoted to

Archbishop of Sens The Archdiocese of Sens and Auxerre (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Senonensis et Antissiodorensis''; French language, French: ''Archidiocèse de Sens et Auxerre'') is a Latin Church, Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archdiocese co ...

in 785. When Beornrad died, in 797, Charlemagne took direct control of the abbey for a year. The work of the monks at the abbey was heavily influenced by Willibrord's roots in

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, where a great emphasis was put on

codices The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

, and Echternach developed one of the most important

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

in the

Frankish Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lomba ...

. The abbey at Echternach produced four

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

s (in order of production): the Augsburg Gospels, Maaseyck Gospels,

Trier Gospels The Trier Gospels is a Gospel book that contains the works and illustration of: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It was copied by two scribes between the years 720 and 740 A.D. in Echternach Abbey The gospel is currently located at Trier Cathedral ...

, and the Freiburg Gospel Book Fragment. Manuscripts produced at Echternach are known to have been in both insular and

Roman half uncial Uncial is a majuscule script (styles of handwriting), script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Byzantine Empire, Greek scribes. Uncial letters were used to write Greek language, Gre ...

script. As Echternach was so prolific, and enjoyed the patronage of Pepin the Short and Charlemagne, it played a crucial role in the development of the early

Carolingian Renaissance The Carolingian Renaissance was the first of three medieval renaissances, a period of cultural activity in the Carolingian Empire. Charlemagne's reign led to an intellectual revival beginning in the 8th century and continuing throughout the 9th ...

. Seeing the work of the abbey at Echternach at taming the native German script, and eager to further the reform, Charlemagne sent for

Alcuin Alcuin of York (; ; 735 – 19 May 804), also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin, was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Ecgbert of York, Archbishop Ecgbert at Yor ...

, to establish a scriptorium at the court in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

. Alcuin synthesised the two styles into the standard

Carolingian minuscule Carolingian minuscule or Caroline minuscule is a script which developed as a calligraphic standard in the medieval European period so that the Latin alphabet of Jerome's Vulgate Bible could be easily recognized by the literate class from one ...

, which predominated for the next four centuries. At the start of the ninth century, a larger, Carolingian-style church was constructed, but it was destroyed in a fire some 200 years later. The abbey, as it enjoyed power, both spiritual and temporal. However, this was all guaranteed only by the Carolingians. When the authority of the centralised Frankish state collapsed during the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

s under

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...

, so too did the power of the abbey. In 847, the Benedictine monks were ejected and replaced by

lay Lay or LAY may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada * Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France * Lay, Iran, a village * Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community * Lay Dam, Alaba ...

-abbots.

Return of the Benedictine monks

The fortunes of the abbey continued to vary with the fortunes of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. When

Otto the Great Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Frankish ( German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son of Henry the Fowler and Matilda ...

reunited the Empire, he sought to rejuvenate the intellectual and religious life of his dominions, including Echternach. In 971, he restored the Benedictines to Echternach with forty monks of that order from Trier. The abbey entered a second Golden Age, as it once again became one of

northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

's most influential abbeys. In 1031, a new Romanesque church was consecrated. The

Codex Aureus of Echternach The Codex Aureus of Echternach (''Codex aureus Epternacensis'') is an Illuminated manuscript, illuminated Gospel Book, created in the approximate period 1030–1050, with a re-used front cover from around the 980s. It is now in the Germanisches ...

, an important surviving codex written entirely in gold ink was produced here in the 11th century. The so-called

Emperor's Bible The Emperor's Bible (Uppsala, UUB ms C 93; ), also known as Codex Caesareus, Codex Caesareus Upsaliensis or the Goslar Gospels, is an 11th-century illuminated manuscript currently in Uppsala University Library, Sweden. Despite its name, it is no ...

and the

Golden Gospels of Henry III The Golden Gospels of Henry III, also Codex Aureus of Speyer or Speyer Gospels (Speyerer Evangeliar), (El Escorial, Real Biblioteca, Cod. Vitrinas 17) is an eleventh-century Illuminated manuscript, illuminated Gospel Book. The manuscript contains ...

were also produced in Echternach at this time, when production of books at the scriptorium peaked.

The modern abbey

Around the middle of the 19th century, the choir began to crumble and it was feared that it might collapse completely. For this reason, an association was founded in 1862 for the reconstruction of the church (the Kirchbauverein). The rebuilding in a neo-roman style was completed in 1868, and the abbey was re-consecrated. In recognition of its importance as a national centre of pilgrimage to St. Willibrord, Pope Pius XII granted the abbey the status of minor basilica in 1939. Part of the basilica was blasted by retreating German Wehrmacht troops on December 26th 1944, necessitating another reconstruction - its sixth in 14 centuries - in the original Roman style. The facade is a nod to the basilica of Paray-le-Monial. The building was again re-consecrated in 1953, though the 8th-century crypt has survived throughout with no major damage.

Chronology of churches

There have been six churches built on the site at Echternach: *Unknown - 700: Original pre-abbey church *700 - : Merovingian church * - 1016: Carolingian church *1031 - 1797: Original Romanesque basilica *1862 - 1944: Reconstructed basilica *1953–present day: Modern basilica

Dancing procession

Despite the long history of the abbey and the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

, Echternach is best known today for its traditional dancing procession, held around the town of Echternach. It is held every

in honour of Saint Willibrord, and is the last such traditional dancing procession in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The event draws to Echternach tens of thousands of visitors a year, be they pilgrims or tourists, who either participate or observe the quaint and distinctive procession.

Library

On 9 February 2010 Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, published a two-volume catalogue of the manuscripts in the library on behalf of the

Bibliothèque nationale de Luxembourg A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...

.''Bibliothèque nationale de Luxembourg: Présentation du catalogue des manuscrits d’Echternach.''
Issued 10 February 2010.

List of abbots

Burials

*Saint

Henry IV, Count of Luxembourg Henry the Blind ( – 14 August 1196; French ''Henri l'Aveugle'', Dutch ''Hendrik de Blinde''), sometimes called Henry IV of Luxembourg, was his father's heir as Count of Namur from 1139 until his abdication in 1189, and heir of his mother's fami ...

References

{{Authority control Churches completed in 1953 Residential buildings completed in 1953 Echternach, Abbey of Echternach, Abbey of Carolingian architecture Echternach Basilica churches in Europe Architecture in Luxembourg 7th-century establishments in Luxembourg 700 establishments Churches completed in the 700s