Engelberg 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 ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

Engelberg Engelberg (lit.: ''mountain of angel(s)'') is a village resort and a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Alongside the central village of Engelberg, the municipality enc ...

, Canton of Obwalden, Switzerland. It was formerly in the

Diocese of Constance The Prince-Bishopric of Constance () was a small ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid-12th century until its secularisation in 1802–1803. In his dual capacity as prince and as bishop, the prince-bishop also admini ...

, 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 ...

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

Nidwalden Canton of Nidwalden or Nidwald ( ; ; ; ) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven municipalities and the seat of the government and parliament is in Stans. It is traditionally considered a " half-canto ...

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 head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

was Adelhelm, a monk of

Muri Abbey Muri Abbey () was 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. While the monastery is currently established as Muri-Gries in South ...

. 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 1126.

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

and the

Emperor Henry IV Henry IV (; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son of Henry III, Holy ...

both officially acknowledged the abbey in 1124. The abbey was placed under the immediate jurisdiction of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, who put it under protection by

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

. 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 () 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 history of the abbey is obscure. ...

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

scriptorium A scriptorium () was a writing room in medieval European monasteries for the copying and illuminating of manuscripts by scribes. The term has perhaps been over-used—only some monasteries had special rooms set aside for scribes. Often they ...

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 Sarnen is a small List of towns in Switzerland, historic town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the canton of Obwalden situated on the northern shores of Lake Sarnen () in Switzerland. It has a population of just ov ...

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 fi ...

to all the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es of the Canton.Alston, George Cyprian. "Abbey of Engelberg." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 7 July 2023 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 (; born Ugolino di Conti; 1145 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and the ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decretales'' and instituting the Pa ...

in 1236. These and other rights they enjoyed until the French Revolution, in 1798, when most of them were taken away. Its population diminished several times by the plague 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 the three villages Küssnacht, Immensee, and Merlischachen, the hamlet ...

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, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

period, especially by the rapid spread of the teachings of

Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a Swiss Christian theologian, musician, and leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swi ...

, and for a time its privileges suffered some curtailment. In 1602 Engelberg joined with other houses to form the

Swiss Congregation The Swiss Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation is a grouping of Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine monasteries in Switzerland or with significant historical Swiss connections. Foundation The congregation was founded, at the urging of t ...

of the

Benedictine Confederation The Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict () is the international governing body of the Order of Saint Benedict. Origin The Benedictine Confederation is a union of monastic congregations that nevertheless retain their own aut ...

.Benediktinerkloster Mariastein
/ref> 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 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 Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

. The abbey buildings were almost entirely destroyed by fire in 1729 but were rebuilt in a substantial style and so remain to the present day. In 1873 a colony from Engelberg founded

Conception Abbey Conception Abbey is a monastery of the Swiss-American Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation, located in Conception, Missouri. Founded by the Swiss Engelberg Abbey in 1873, it was raised to a conventual priory in 1876 and elevated to a ...

, at

Conception, Missouri Conception is a census-designated place in southeastern Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. The population was 111 at the 2020 Census. Conception is home to Conception Abbey, a Benedictine monastery and seminary. Conception has frequently ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

; in 1882,

Mount Angel Abbey Mount Angel Abbey is a Catholic monastery of Benedictine monks located in Saint Benedict, Oregon, northeast of Salem, it was established in 1882 from Engelberg Abbey, in Switzerland. The abbey, located on the top of Mount Angel, a , has its ...

was founded near what is now

Mount Angel, Oregon Mt. Angel or Mount Angel is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. It is northeast of Salem, Oregon, on Oregon Route 214. The population was 3,392 at the 2020 census. Mt. Angel is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hi ...

, also in the United States.

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

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 was founded.

References

External links

*
Abbey Engelberg

Boarding School of the Abbey Engelberg

Mount Angel Abbey
(

JPEG JPEG ( , short for Joint Photographic Experts Group and sometimes retroactively referred to as JPEG 1) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degr ...

image), a daughter abbey to Engelberg {{Authority control 1798 disestablishments in Europe States and territories established in 1236 Benedictine monasteries in Switzerland 1120 establishments in Europe Former protectorates of Switzerland Christian monasteries established in the 1120s Engelberg Buildings and structures in Obwalden 1120s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Imperial abbeys Cultural property of national significance in Obwalden