Michaelsberg Abbey, Siegburg

Coordinates: 50°47′45″N 7°12′39″E / 50.79583°N 7.21083°E / 50.79583; 7.21083
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For Michaelsberg Abbey in Bavaria, see Michaelsberg Abbey, Bamberg.
Michaelsberg Abbey
Abtei Michaelsberg
Cistercian
Established1064/1914/1945
Disestablished1803/1941/2011
Site
Coordinates50°47′45″N 7°12′39″E / 50.79583°N 7.21083°E / 50.79583; 7.21083
Imperial Abbey of Michaelsberg, Siegburg
Reichsabtei Michaelsberg in Siegburg
1512–1803
Coat of arms of Michaelsberg Abbey
Coat of arms
StatusImperial Abbey
CapitalSiegburg
GovernmentTheocracy (till 1803)
Historical eraMiddle Ages to Modern Era
• Founded
1064
• Gained
Reichsfreiheit
1512
• Disestablished
1803
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Duchy of Berg
Duchy of Berg
Today part ofGermany

Michaelsberg Abbey (

Subiaco Congregation (1064-2011). The monastery is situated on the Michaelsberg ("St. Michael's Mount"), about 40 metres above the town of Siegburg
. For this reason it is also often known as Siegburg Abbey.

History

Foundation

The hill called the Michaelsberg, formerly known as the Siegberg, was first inhabited about 800 by the Counts of Auelgau, who built a castle there. In 1064 the

Archangel Michael, from whom both the mountain and the abbey henceforward took their names. He appointed the monk Erpho (died 1076) as the first abbot. Anno himself died at the abbey in 1075 and was buried there.[1]

Archbishop Anno was

Cistercian abbey.[1]

During the 14th century, after a long legal battle, the abbey was recognized as an

Imperial abbey (that is, directly subject to the Holy Roman Emperor alone).[1] This led to bitter rivalry, and on occasion even war, with the town of Siegburg. In 1676 the abbey again became subject to the local territorial power. During the period of the Thirty Years' War, the abbey became a center of literary and musical studies.[1]

Modern era

The abbey was suppressed during the

German Mediatisation of 1802–03. Until their resettlement by Cistercian monks on 2 July 1914, the buildings were used for varied purposes, for some time as a barracks, but also at other times as a lunatic asylum and a slaughterhouse. The new monks came from the Abbey of Merkelbeeck in the Netherlands to establish a monastery there again. This was not an easy endeavor, as part of the abbey was soon taken over for use as a military hospital during World War I.[1]

In 1941 the abbey was again dissolved, this time by the

prisoners of war
, others from exile. They had to rebuild the monastery virtually from scratch.

Since 1997 the Edith Stein Retreat House of the Archdiocese of Cologne has operated at this location, using the north wing and also a large part of the west wing of the abbey.[2]

Dissolution

In 2005 the monastic community of Michaelsberg Abbey consisted of 13 monks and a novice. The financial situation was uncertain and in December 2010 the community voted to close the abbey, effective the following June.[3] At that time the remaining 12 monks left the abbey for various other monasteries, and the abbey was transferred to the Archdiocese. The abbey church (except the crypt) remains open daily to the public.

It was announced in 2012 by the Archdiocese that six friars of the Indian province of the Discalced Carmelites would open a priory in a part of the former abbey after renovation of the building.[4]

Alcohol production

In 1504 production of the abbey's liqueur, Siegburger Abtei-Likör, began. After an interruption, production was resumed in 1952.[5] In 2004 a line of beer was also brewed here, called Michel.

Both products ceased to be produced with the closing of the abbey.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Abtei Michaelsberg, Siegburg "Geschichte"(in German)
  2. ^ Abtei Michaelsberg "Das Edith-Stein-Exerzitienhaus"(in German)
  3. ^ OSB News (December 2010)
  4. ^ Eszbistum Köln "Gute Zukunft für den Michaelsberg" Archived 2013-01-22 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
  5. ^ (in German) Abtei Liqueur official website Archived May 26, 2005, at the Wayback Machine

References

  • Firmenich, H., 1978: Die Abtei Michaelsberg in Siegburg. (Rheinische Kunststätten 99). 6th edn. Neuss: Gesellschaft für Buchdruckerei.
    ISBN 3-88094-229-3
  • Mittler, Placidus, 1987: Abtei Michaelsberg, Siegburg. Geschichte und Leben. Siegburg: Schmitt.
    ISBN 3-87710-128-3
  • Weber, Wunibald, 1953: Michaelsberg. Geschichte einer 900jährigen Abtei. Siegburg.

External links

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