Engelberg Abbey (german: Kloster Engelberg) is a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

Engelberg Engelberg (lit.: ''mountain of angel(s)'') is a village resort and a municipality in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Besides the village of Engelberg, the municipality also includes the settlements of Grafenort, Oberberg and Schwand. The ...

Canton of Obwalden Obwalden, also Obwald (german: Kanton Obwalden, rm, Chantun Sursilvania; french: Canton d'Obwald; it, Canton Obvaldo), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of seven municipalities and the seat of the gover ...

, Switzerland. It was formerly in the

Diocese of Constance The Prince-Bishopric of Constance, (german: Hochstift Konstanz, Fürstbistum Konstanz, Bistum Konstanz) was a small ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid-12th century until its secularisation in 1802–1803. In his dua ...

, but is now in the

Diocese of Chur The Diocese of Chur is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Switzerland. It extends over the Swiss Cantons of Graubünden (Grisons), Schwyz, Glarus, Zurich, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Uri. The modern Cat ...

. It is dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels and occupies a commanding position at the head of the Nidwalden Valley.

History

The Engelberg abbey was founded on the 1 April 1120 by Count Conrad of Sellenbüren, and its first

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

was Adelhelm, a monk of the

Muri Abbey Muri Abbey (german: Kloster Muri) is a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. It flourished for over eight centuries at Muri, in the Canton of Aargau, near Zürich, Switzerland. It is currently established as Muri-Gries in Sout ...

. The first inhabitants of Engelberg were also monks from the Muri abbey. Von Sellenbüren entered the Engelberg abbey as a monk and died on the 2 Mai 1226.

Pope Callistus II Pope Callixtus II or Callistus II ( – 13 December 1124), born Guy of Burgundy, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 1119 to his death in 1124. His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy, ...

and the Emperor Henry IV both officially acknowledged the abbey in 1124. The abbey was placed under the immediate jurisdiction of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

, who put it under protection by

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

. In November 1224 Emperor Henry VI then also officially put the abbey under his protection. In the founding documents, the new abbey was known as ''Mons Angelorum'' and ''Engilberc''. Adelhelm, abbot until 1126, was followed by three disputed abbots which divided the community. They were followed by three abbots from

St. Blaise's Abbey in the Black Forest Saint Blaise Abbey (german: Kloster Sankt Blasien) was a Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery in the village of Sankt Blasien, St. Blasien in the Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History 9th–12th centuries The early hist ...

, Frowin (1143/47-1178), Berchtold (1178-1197) and Henry (1197-1223). Under Frowin a

scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes an ...

was founded. Around 1200 the ''Engelberger Meister'' wrote and illustrated several books from the scriptorium. Since Frowin, the abbey was a so-called

double monastery A double monastery (also dual monastery or double house) is a monastery combining separate communities of monks and of nuns, joined in one institution to share one church and other facilities. The practice is believed to have started in the East ...

, in which both nuns and monks lived. The nuns established the in

Sarnen , neighboring_municipalities= Alpnach, Entlebuch (LU), Flühli (LU), Giswil, Hasle (LU), Kerns, Sachseln , twintowns = Sarnen is a small historic town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Obwalden situated on the northern shores o ...

in 1615. In spiritual matters the abbots of Engelberg exercised quasi-episcopal jurisdiction over all their vassals and dependents, including the town which sprang up around the walls of the abbey, and also enjoyed the right of

collation Collation is the assembly of written information into a standard order. Many systems of collation are based on numerical order or alphabetical order, or extensions and combinations thereof. Collation is a fundamental element of most office filin ...

to all the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

es of the Canton. In temporal matters they had supreme and absolute authority over a large territory, embracing one hundred and fifteen towns and villages, which were incorporated under the abbatial rule by a Bull of

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

in 1236. These and other rights they enjoyed until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, in 1798, when most of them were taken away. Its population diminished several times by the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

in the years 1349, 1548 and 1565. In 1565, only one priest who was on service in

Küssnacht Küssnacht am Rigi (official name since 2004: Küssnacht) is a village and a district and a municipality in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The municipality consists of three villages Küssnacht, Immensee, and Merlischachen, the hamlet ''Ha ...

survived of the community. The prominent position in Switzerland which the abbey occupied for so many centuries was seriously threatened by the religious and political disturbances of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

period, especially by the rapid spread of the teachings of

Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Univ ...

, and for a time its privileges suffered some curtailment. The troubles and vicissitudes, however, through which it passed, were happily brought to an end by the wise rule of Abbot Benedict Sigrist in the 17th century, who is justly called the restorer of his monastery. Alienated possessions and rights were recovered by him and the good work he began was continued by his successors, under whom monastic discipline and learning have flourished with renewed vigour. The library, which is said to have contained over twenty thousand volumes and two hundred choice manuscripts, was unfortunately pillaged by the French in 1798. Ironically, in the spirit of learning and preservation of knowledge, the library contains to this day a complete set of the writings of

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

. The abbey buildings were almost entirely destroyed by fire in 1729 but were rebuilt in a substantial, if not very beautiful, style and so remain to the present day. In 1873 a colony from Engelberg founded

Conception Abbey Conception Abbey, site of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, is a monastery of the Swiss-American Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The monastery, founded by the Swiss Engelberg Abbey in 1873 in northwest Missouri's Nodaway ...

, at

Conception, Missouri Conception is a census-designated place in eastern Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. It is located about southeast of Maryville on U.S. Route 136. It is very near Conception Junction (which was the rail intersection). Conception is hom ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

; in 1882,

Mount Angel Abbey Mount Angel Abbey is a Roman Catholic monastery of Benedictine monks in the northwest United States, located in St. Benedict, Oregon. Northeast of Salem, it was established in 1882 from Engelberg Abbey, Switzerland. The abbey, located on the to ...

was founded near what is now

Mount Angel, Oregon Mt. Angel is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. It is northeast of Salem, Oregon, on Oregon Route 214. The population was 3,748 at the 2010 census. Mt. Angel is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Mt. Ange ...

, also in the United States.

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

wrote a poem about the abbey entitled "Engelberg, The Hill of Angels".

Educational institutions of the monastery

Since 1851, there exists the Boarding School of the Abbey Engelberg, which was first performed by a secular rector since 2009. 2001, the

Academia Engelberg Foundation The Academia Engelberg Foundation is a Swiss foundation in Engelberg in the Canton of Obwalden that aims to impart and utilize knowledge. It promotes the dialogue on the scientific, technological and ecological basic values of society. Foundi ...

was founded.

References and external links

*
Abbey Engelberg

Boarding School of the Abbey Engelberg

Mount Angel Abbey
( JPEG image), a daughter abbey to Engelberg Specific {{Authority control 1798 disestablishments in Europe States and territories established in 1236 Benedictine monasteries in Switzerland 1120 establishments in Europe Religious organizations established in the 1120s Former protectorates of Switzerland Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Engelberg Buildings and structures in Obwalden 12th-century establishments in Switzerland Imperial abbeys Cultural property of national significance in Obwalden