Zwiefalten Abbey (german: Kloster Zwiefalten, Abtei Zwiefalten or after 1750, ) is a former

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 situated at

Zwiefalten Zwiefalten is a municipality in the district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany located halfway between Stuttgart and Lake Constance. The former Zwiefalten Abbey dominates the town. The former monastery is considered one of the finest exa ...

near

Reutlingen Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a 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 inhabitants across a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

History

The monastery was founded in 1089 at the time of the

Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest (German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops ( investiture) and abbots of mona ...

by Counts Gero and Kuno of Achalm, advised by Bishop

Adalbero of Würzburg Adalbero of Würzburg (or Saint Adalbero; 1010 – 6 October 1090) was Bishop of Würzburg and Count of Lambach-Wels. Life Born around 1010 in Lambach an der Traun, Adalbero was the youngest son of Count Arnold II of Lambach in Upper Austria ( ...

and Abbot

William of Hirsau William of Hirsau (or Wilhelm von Hirschau) ( 1030 – 5 July 1091) was a Benedictine abbot and monastic reformer. He was abbot of Hirsau Abbey, for whom he created the ''Constitutiones Hirsaugienses'', based on the uses of Cluny, and was the fat ...

. The first monks were also from

Hirsau Abbey Hirsau Abbey, formerly known as Hirschau Abbey, was once one of the most important Benedictine abbeys of Germany. It is located in the Hirsau borough of Calw on the northern slopes of the Black Forest mountain range, in the present-day state of ...

, home of the Hirsau Reforms (under the influence of the

Cluniac reforms The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began ...

), which strongly influenced the new foundation. Noker von Zwiefalten was the first abbot and led from 1065–90. The monk Ortlieb wrote a history of the monastery in the early 12th century. Berthold continued it to 1137–38. He served as abbot in 1139–1141, 1146/7–1152/6 and 1158–1169. During the 12th century

Saint Ernest Saint Ernest (died 1148) was the abbot of the Benedictine Zwiefalten Abbey at Zwiefalten, Germany from 1141 to 1146. He participated in the Second Crusade fought by Christians between 1146 and 1149 to defend the Holy Land following the Turkish a ...

(died 1148) was abbot. Between 1145 and 1149 he participated in the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1145–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Cru ...

to regain the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

s including Jerusalem. Although

Pope Urban VI Pope Urban VI ( la, Urbanus VI; it, Urbano VI; c. 1318 – 15 October 1389), born Bartolomeo Prignano (), was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death in October 1389. He was the most recent pope to be elected from outside the ...

granted special privileges to it, Zwiefalten Abbey was nevertheless the private monastery of the Counts of Achalm, later succeeded by the

Counts of Württemberg Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...

. The abbey was plundered in 1525 during the

German Peasants' War The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt (german: Deutscher Bauernkrieg) was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It failed because of intense oppositi ...

. Christoph Rassler was abbot from 1658–75 and Augustin Stegmüller was abbot in the 18th century. In 1750 the abbey was granted the status of '' Reichsabtei'', which meant that it had the status of an independent power subject only to the Imperial Crown and was free of the rule of Württemberg. On 25 November 1802, however, it was secularised and dissolved and became a lunatic asylum and later psychiatric hospital, which it is today, as well as the site of the Württemberg Psychiatry Museum.

Buildings

The present buildings were constructed in German Baroque style from 1739–47 under the direction of

Johann Michael Fischer Johann Michael Fischer (18 February 1692 – 6 May 1766) was a German architect in the late Baroque period. Fischer was born in Burglengenfeld, Upper Palatinate. He is a major representative of south German Baroque architects. He studied in Bohem ...

(1692–1766) of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, who began overseeing the work in 1741. The interior, considered a model of Baroque design, is filled with ornate chapels and gilded

balustrades A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

, dominated by the

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganis ...

, which combines a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

statue of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

dating from 1430 with Baroque additions (dating from about 1750) by Johann Joseph Christian (1706–77). The elaborate frescoes are by

Franz Joseph Spiegler Franz Joseph Spiegler (5 April 1691 – 15 April 1757) was a German Baroque painter. He is best known for his frescoes, which decorate many of the churches and monasteries along the Upper Swabian Baroque Route. The frescoes in the Zwiefalten ...

(1691–1757).''Germany: A Phaidon Cultural Guide'', pp. 775-6. Oxford: Phaidon, 1985.

Gallery

References

{{Authority control Benedictine monasteries in Germany Psychiatric hospitals in Germany Monasteries in Baden-Württemberg 1089 establishments in Europe Christian monasteries established in the 11th century Hospitals established in 1802 Imperial abbeys disestablished in 1802–03 Swabian Jura Medical and health organisations based in Baden-Württemberg Reutlingen (district)