Königsmünster Abbey 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 ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

(belonging to the

Benedictine Congregation of Saint Ottilien The Ottilien Congregation, officially known as the Benedictine Congregation of Sankt Ottilien and as the Missionary Benedictines, is a congregation of religious houses within the Benedictine Confederation, the aim of which is to combine the Benedi ...

) in

Meschede Meschede () is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district Hochsauerlandkreis. Education One of the five branches of South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences (also: Fachhoc ...

, Germany.

History

The abbey was founded in 1928, from three abbeys 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 ...

. The contract between the city of Meschede and the Benedictine congregation stipulated that the monks would take over the local Rektoratsschule, and would in return receive financial support for the construction of the abbey. A competition for the design of the abbey was won by Franz Schneider, who drew up a symmetrical building centered around a church facade. The name ''Königsmünster'' means "monastery of the King” (that is, Christ). The monks followed the tradition of

Grafschaft Abbey Grafschaft Abbey () is a community of the Sisters of Mercy of Saint Charles Borromeo, formerly a Benedictine Order, Benedictine monastery, in Schmallenberg-Grafschaft (Schmallenberg), Grafschaft in the Sauerland, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany ...

in the

Sauerland The Sauerland () is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of the States of Germany, German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. ...

(it had been dissolved in 1804). From the weapon of that abbey, Königsmünster took the antlers, and its monks compiled a

necrology An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

of the Grafschaft monks. The abbey became an independent conventual

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

in 1932, with Linus Leberle (1880–1956) as its first prior. Alban Buckel was prior from 1937 to 1956. In 1941 the National Socialists confiscated the monastery and expelled the monks. , 48 monks lived in the abbey. The abbey church was built in the early sixties and consecrated in 1964. As a member of the Congregation of Saint Ottilien, the monks primary apostolate is mission work. The abbey also runs two retreat houses. It has a metalworks shop that produces among other things jewelry, and liturgical equipment such as altars, crosses, and candlesticks, etc."Abteiwaren", Königsmünster
/ref>

Secondary School

The “Gymnasium der Benediktiner”, is a gymnasium that belongs to the Abbey. Some monks of the abbey teach religion or other subjects at the school.

References

External links

*
Official website of Gymn Benedictine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Königsmünster Abbey Benedictine monasteries in Germany European Monasteries of the Congregation of Missionary Benedictines of Saint Ottilien Monasteries in North Rhine-Westphalia Religious organizations established in 1928