Kloster Engelberg (Engelberg Abbey) is a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

monastery in Grossheubach in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

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 ...

. In the past, a pilgrimage dedicated to a figure of Mary, documented as far back as 1406, was administered by the

Capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an order of Roman Catholic friars *Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of Roman Catholic contemplative religious sisters *Capuchin monkey, primates of the genus ''Cebus'' and ''Sapajus'', named af ...

after 1630. Following secularization in the early 19th century, the Capuchins eventually left and the Franciscan order took over the abbey and caring for the pilgrims. The abbey is (partially) open to the public.

Location

''Kloster Engelberg'' is located on the hill Engelberg ("hill of Angels") above the town of Grossheubach, on the right bank of the river

Main Main may refer to: Geography *Main River (disambiguation), multiple rivers with the same name *Ma'in, an ancient kingdom in modern-day Yemen * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *Spanish Main, the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territ ...

near the district town of

Miltenberg Miltenberg () is a town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the Miltenberg (district), like-named district and has a population of over 9,000. Geography Location The old ...

. It is passed by the long-distance hiking trail ''

Eselsweg The Eselsweg (English: "donkey trail") is a long-distance hiking trail that follows an ancient trade route through the ''Mittelgebirge'' Spessart, in the states of Hesse and Bavaria, Germany. It is 111 km long and leads from Schlüchtern in ...

'' which connects

Schlüchtern Schlüchtern () is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hessen, Germany. It is located on the river Kinzig (Main), Kinzig, approximately 30 km southwest of Fulda. Schlüchtern has a population close to 16,000. Location Schlüchtern is locat ...

to Grossheubach and follows the route of a

historic road Historic roads (or historic trails in the US and Canada) are paths or routes that have historical importance due to their use over a period of time. Examples exist from prehistoric times until the early 20th century. They include ancient track ...

that was used to transport salt across the

Spessart Spessart () is a ''Mittelgebirge'', a range of low wooded mountains, in the States of Bavaria and Hesse in Germany. It is bordered by the Vogelsberg, Rhön and Odenwald. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg (Spessart), Geiersberg at 586 metre ...

range.

History

The hill spur on which the abbey is situated was likely used in prehistoric times as a cult site. Around 1300, a wooden chapel dedicated to

St. Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

was built there and a statue of

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

erected before 1400. The likely location of this chapel was where the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

of today's church stands. The first documented pilgrimage took place in 1406. In 1469, a brotherhood was established in connection with the Engelberg pilgrimage. In 1483, Grossheubach came to the

Archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

in a land swap with the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

that had held the village and its surroundings since 1291. In 1630, Anselm Kasimir von Wambold, Archbishop of Mainz, asked

from the Rhenish Province to come here. The abbey was finished by 1639. At the same time the church was enlarged and largely achieved its current,

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 ...

, form. After 1647, the monastery had the status of ''Konvent'' (previously it had been a pilgrims' ''Hospice''). In 1697, the

Antonius Antonius is a masculine given name, as well as a surname. Antonius is a Danish language, Danish, Dutch language, Dutch, Finnish language, Finnish, Latin language, Latin, Norwegian language, Norwegian, and Swedish language, Swedish name used in Gre ...

chapel was added. In 1701, the ''Gnadenbild der Freudenreichen Muttergottes'' (statue of Mary) from the early or mid-14th century, was set up in a new side-chapel on the right. When the German ecclesial states were securalized in the early 19th century in what is known as the

German mediatization German mediatisation (; ) was the major redistribution and reshaping of territorial holdings that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany by means of the subsumption and Secularization (church property), secularisation of a large number of ...

, Engelberg was initially not much affected. The acceptance of novices was forbidden, though, setting it up for eventual extinction. In 1817, the '' Gymnasium'' (school) was dissolved. However, in 1828, King

Ludwig I of Bavaria Ludwig I or Louis I (; 25 August 1786 – 29 February 1868) was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the German revolutions of 1848–49, 1848 revolutions in the German states. When he was crown prince, he was involved in the Napoleonic Wars. As ki ...

ordered the monks to move to

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; Hessian: ''Aschebersch'', ) is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg, despite being its administrative seat, is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg. Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...

. The monastery was refounded, but Franciscans of the Bavarian Order Province took over in taking care of pilgrims. A burial chapel for the Catholic branch of House

Löwenstein Löwenstein () is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was first mentioned in 1123. The castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nob ...

was built next to the church (the abbey had been their burial site since 1728). In 1899, the church was enlarged towards the west. A terrace was added as well as the room which today serves as a confessional chapel. The pilgrimage continues. Well into the post-WWII period, some pilgrims climbed the steps to the abbey on their knees while praying.

Description

The pilgrimage way (612 steps of red sandstone, the so-called ''Engelsstaffeln'') through the vineyards from Grossheubach features 14 Baroque chapels and 14

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

from 1866. The current set of mostly Baroque monastic buildings are quite simple architecturally, reflecting their origins during the Thirty Years' War. Back then, measured by its message, the most important work of art was the larger-than-life statue of St. Michael set above the church portal, created by Zacharias Juncker the Older (from a ) around 1635. It references a much more significant statue of the saint created by

Hubert Gerhard Hubert Gerhards (c. 1540/1550–1620; born 's-Hertogenbosch) was a Dutch sculptor. Like many of his contemporaries, he may have left the Netherlands in order to escape the religious conflicts and iconoclasm of the 1566–1567 era. He trained in Fl ...

for the ''Michaelskirche'' at Munich. The statue at Engelberg was erected after the Protestant Swedish had been beaten and driven out of Franconia, turning the monastery into a monument to the resurrected power of the Catholic faith. The early 14th-century statue of Mary is still on display today in a side chapel of the church. It is around 75 cm tall, carved from wood and painted. The sitting figure holds a scepter in the right hand and the left arm is wrapped around the boy Jesus. Due to its smiling face, it is known as ''freudenreich'' (joyful). This is the figure at the centre of the pilgrimage. The oldest, Gothic part of the church, is behind the high altar, only created in 1909. Two other side altars were added around the same time. The one on the right, with a crucifixion scene, originally dates from the early 18th century. The other was stylistically matched to the older altar. This one shows St. Francis putting his arms around Christ on the cross. The ceiling and wall paintings also date to the early 20th century.

Today

It remains one of the most important sites of pilgrimages in the Würzburg diocese. The church and some other areas of the monastery are open to visitors. The order runs a restaurant and shop in the buildings. The restaurant offers wine grown by the abbey and beer brewed by the Franciscans.

References

External links