Langheim Abbey was a well-known
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
monastery in
Klosterlangheim, part of the town of
Lichtenfels in
Upper Franconia,
Bavaria, Germany, in the
Bishopric of Bamberg.
250px, Ökonomiehof with decorated fountain at Eastern
History
Three brothers from the city of
Bamberg
Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...
(from what became the
Rotenhan family and Redwitz from Rodach family) made a gift of the estate of Langheim to Saint
Otto I, bishop of Bamberg, who in 1132 offered it
Adam of Ebrach, abbot of the Cistercian
Ebrach Abbey, on condition that it should be used for the establishment of a new monastery of that order. The first stone was laid on 1 August 1132 and in 1142 the buildings were completed. The abbey, like Ebrach, was dedicated to the
Virgin Mary, Saint
John the Evangelist and
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...
.
The first abbot was Adam (1141–80), who succeeded in gaining the support not only of the bishops of Bamberg but of the local nobility. In consequence the new abbey rapidly acquired extensive property and the cure of many parishes.
Pope Eugene III and the
emperors granted it many privileges. It was famous at this time for its wealth and magnificence.
By about 1380, however, as result of plague and economic difficulties, the abbey administration had more or less failed, and in 1385 Lambrecht von Brunn, bishop of Bamberg, was able without resistance to divert the abbey's management and property to the cathedral chapter. In 1429 the
Hussites destroyed the buildings by fire.
250px, Konventbau
Langheim was able nevertheless to recover from these misfortunes and to re-build the premises and its economic stability, but 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 oppositio ...
s, it was once again burnt down by a rioting mob.
It was re-built yet again, only to be destroyed yet again with particular brutality in 1632 by the
Swedes
Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...
during the
Thirty Years' War.
It took a century for the abbey to recover from this, but abbot Stephen Mösinger (1734–51) was at last able to have the monastery reconstructed on a scale and to a standard that recalled the first building. During this interval the bishops of Bamberg had again become favorable to the abbey, although they failed to restore either the property they had taken or the former privileges. The bishop did intervene in the abbey's finances, when in 1788 he suspended the then abbot on account of the huge debts that had been incurred for building works.
The final catastrophe occurred on 7 May 1802, when fire destroyed the splendid buildings erected by Stephen Mösinger and put an end to Langheim. On 23 June 1803, the community, at that time numbering forty-nine members, was secularised by a decree of the Prince Elector of
Bavaria. The monks were dispersed to various places, and the last abbot, Candide Hemmerlein, received a pension of 8000 florins, with which he retired to Thieb Castle, where he died in 1814.
After dissolution
The remnants of the buildings after the fire were unsafe and were demolished, including the abbey church. A few structural items survive incorporated in the town centre of Klosterlangheim.
Monks of Langheim
This abbey gave to the Catholic Church in Germany many distinguished bishops and also writers. These include the monk Engelrich, who wrote the "Leben der hl. Mathilde, Abtissin von Edelstetten" (''"Life of
Saint Mechtilde
Mechtilde of Hackeborn, also known as Mechtilde of Helfta (1240/1241 – 19 November 1298), was a Saxon Christian saint (from what is now Germany) and a Benedictine nun. She was famous for her musical talents, gifted with a beautiful voice. ...
, Abbess of Edelstetten"''); and Simon Schreiner of the seventeenth century, who composed a treatise on the
Fourteen Holy Helpers and an "Apologia contra Lutheranos". The abbot Mauritius Knauer, a distinguished mathematician and astronomer, published a number of works on the natural sciences and also an ascetical work entitled "Tuba Coeli" (1649–64). The most prolific author was however Joachim Jaeck, who after secularisation published the results of his extensive researches on the history of Bamberg and the surrounding country.
Foundations
Plass Abbey
In 1144 Langheim founded
Plass Abbey in the diocese of
Prague.
Vierzehnheiligenbasilika
In 1445 Abbot Frederick Hengelein had built at
Bad Staffelstein
Bad Staffelstein is a small town in the Bavarian Administrative Region of Upper Franconia in Germany. It has around 10,000 inhabitants.
Bad Staffelstein is known for several landmarks, such as the Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen designed by B ...
near
Frankenthal, as a dependency of the abbey, a church in honour of the
Fourteen Holy Helpers, which soon became a popular place of pilgrimage. Abbot Mösinger, after the re-construction of the main abbey complex was completed, commissioned
Balthasar Neumann
Johann Balthasar Neumann (; 27 January 1687 (?) – 19 August 1753), usually known as Balthasar Neumann, was a German architect and military artillery engineer who developed a refined brand of Baroque architecture, fusing Austrian, Bohemian, Ita ...
to re-build it as a
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
church. It survived the destruction of the abbey, after the dissolution of which it was entrusted to the care of the
Franciscans and still stands today as the
Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen.
Abbots from 1556
* 1556–1562 Friedrich Marschalk
* 1562–1572 Ludwig Fuchs
* 1572–1582 Magnus Hofmann
* 1582–1584 Wilhelm Krenich
* 1584–1592 Konrad Holzmann
* 1592–1608 Johann Bückling
* 1608–1620 Peter Schönfelder
* 1620–1626 Johann Weiger
* 1626–1631 Erasmus Behem (or Böhm)
* 1631–1637 Nikolaus Eber
* 1637–1649 Johann Gagel
* 1649–1664 Mauritius Knauer
* 1664–1677 Alberich Semmelmann
* 1677–1689 Thomas Wagner
* 1689–1690 Candidus Bergmann
* 1690–1728 Gallus Knauer
* 1728–1734 Martin Wolf
* 1734–1751 Stephan Mösinger
* 1751–1774 Malachias Limmer
* 1774–1791 Johann Nepomuk Pitius (suspended from 1788)
* 1791–1803 Candidus Hemmerlein
References
*Geldner, F., 1990. ''Langheim. Wirken und Schicksal eines fränkischen Zisterzienser-Klosters'' (2nd ed.). Lichtenfels.
*''Klosterlangheim. Symposion veranstaltet von der Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung in Zusammenarbeit mit der Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg und dem Bayerischen Landesamt für Denkmalpflege''. München 1994 (Arbeitsheft 65 des Bayerischen Landesamts für Denkmalpflege).
*Dippold, G., 2003. ''Die Klostersäkularisation von 1802/03. Das Beispiel Langheim''.(Heimatbeilage zum Oberfränkischen Schulanzeiger 307). Bayreuth.
External links
Klöster in Bayern: Langheim*
{{Authority control
Cistercian monasteries in Germany
Monasteries in Bavaria
Religious organizations established in the 1140s
Christian monasteries established in the 12th century
Burial sites of the House of Andechs
Lichtenfels (district)