Saint Blaise Abbey, Black Forest

Coordinates: 47°45′36″N 8°07′48″E / 47.76000°N 8.13000°E / 47.76000; 8.13000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
St. Blaise's Cathedral, the former abbey church

Saint Blaise Abbey (

Benedictine monastery in the village of St. Blasien in the Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
.

History

9th–12th centuries

The early history of the abbey is obscure. Its predecessor in the 9th century is supposed to have been a cell of Rheinau Abbey, known as cella alba (the "white cell"), but the line of development between that and the confirmed existence of St Blaise's Abbey in the 11th century is unclear. At some point the new foundation would have had to become independent of Rheinau, in which process the shadowy Reginbert of Seldenbüren (died about 962), traditionally named as the founder, may have played some role. The first definite abbot of St Blaise however was Werner I (1045?–1069). On 8 June 1065 the abbey received a grant of immunity from Emperor Henry IV, although it had connections to the family of the anti-king Rudolf of Rheinfelden.

Between 1070 and 1073 there seem to have been contacts between St. Blaise and the active

lay-brothers or "conversi" and probably even the reformation of the abbey as a double monastery
for both monks and nuns (the nuns are said to have re-settled to Berau Abbey by 1117).

Ettenheimmünster (1124) and Sulzburg
(ca 1125), and the priories of Weitenau (ca 1100), Bürgeln (before 1130) and Sitzenkirch (ca 1130). A list of prayer partnerships, drawn up about 1150, shows how extensive the connections were between St Blaise and other religious communities.

During the course of the 12th century however the zeal of the monks cooled, as their attention became increasingly focussed on the acquisition, management and exploitation of their substantial estates, which by the 15th century extended across the whole of the Black Forest and included not only the abbey's priories named above, but also the nunnery at Gutnau and the livings of Niederrotweil, Schluchsee, Wettelbrunn, Achdorf, Hochemmingen, Todtnau, Efringen, Schönau, Wangen, Plochingen, Nassenbeuren and many others.[1]

13th–17th centuries

Bonndorf
(1767)

The original

Reichskloster
".

From the mid-13th century the Vögte (protective lordship) were

Prince-Abbots derived their status in the Holy Roman Empire.[2]

17th century – present

The abbey was dissolved in the course of secularisation in 1806 and the monastic premises were thereupon used as one of the earliest mechanised factories in Germany. The monks however, under the last Prince-Abbot Dr Berthold Rottler, found their way to

St. Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal in Austria
, where they settled in 1809.

From 1934, the remaining buildings have been occupied by the well-known

Jesuit college, the Kolleg St. Blasien
.

St Blaise's "Cathedral"

The abbey church burnt down in 1768, and was rebuilt as a Neoclassical round church by the architect Pierre Michel d'Ixnard, with an enormous dome 46 metres across and 63 metres high (the third-largest in Europe north of the Alps), during the years up to 1781 under the Prince-Abbot Martin Gerbert. It was consecrated in 1784.[3]

It remains as the Dom St Blasius, or "St Blaise's Cathedral" (so called because of its size and magnificence, not because it is a cathedral in any ecclesiastical or administrative sense). Dom properly denotes or means an important church (as the main church of a town or a city), not a cathedral (seat of a bishop), Kathedrale in German. The effects of another catastrophic fire in 1874 were only finally remedied in the 1980s.

Gallery

  • Sankt Blasien
  • Painting of the Abbey, 1783
    Painting of the Abbey, 1783
  • St Blaise Abbey
    St Blaise Abbey
  • Front of the Abbey
    Front of the Abbey
  • The Abbey Dome
    The Abbey Dome

Abbots of St. Blaise in the Black Forest

  • Beringer von Hohenschwanden (945-974)
  • Ifo (974-983)
  • Siegfried (983-1021)
  • Bernard (1021–1045)
  • Werner I (1045–1069)
  • Giselbert (1068–1086)
  • Otto I (1086–1108)
  • Rustenus (1108–1125)
  • Berthold I (1125–1141)
  • Gunther of Andlau (1141–1170?)
  • Werner II of Küssaberg (1170–1178)
  • Theodebert of Bussnang (1178–1186)
  • Manegold of Hallwil (1186–1204)
  • Hermann I of Messkirch (1204–1222)
  • Otto II (1222–1223)
  • Hermann II (1223–1237)
  • Heinrich I (1237–1240)
  • Arnold I (1240–1247)
  • Arnold II (1247–1276)
  • Heinrich II of Stadion (1276–1294)
  • Berthold II (1294–1308)
  • Heinrich III (1308–1314)
  • Ulrich (1314–1334)
  • Petrus I of Thayingen (1334–1348)
  • Heinrich IV of Eschenz (1348–1391)
  • Konrad (1391)
  • Johannes I Kreutz (1391–1413)
  • Johannes II Duttlinger (1413–1429)
  • Nikolaus Stocker (1429–1460)
  • Petrus II Bösch (1460–1461)
  • Christopher of Greuth (1461–1482)
  • Eberhard von Reischach (1482–1491)
  • Blasius I Wambach (1491–1493)
  • Georg (Buob?) of Horb (1493–1519) Buob
  • Johannes III Spielmann (1519–1532)
  • Gallus Haas (1532–1540)
  • Johannes IV Wagner (1540–1541)
  • Caspar I Müller von Schöneck (1541–1571)
  • Caspar II Thomae (1571–1596)
  • Martin I Meister (1596–1625)
  • Blasius II Münster (1625–1638)
  • Franz I Chullots (1638–1664)
  • Otto III Kübler (1664–1672)
  • Romanus Vogler (1672–1695)
  • Augustin Simon Eusebius Finck (1695–1720)
  • Blasius III Bender (1720–1727)
  • Franz II Schächtelin (1727–1747)
  • Coelestin Vogler (1747–1749)
  • Meinrad Troger (1749–1764)
  • Martin II Gerbert (1764–1793)
  • Moritz Ribbele (1793–1801)
  • Berthold III Rottler (1801–1806)

Burials

Footnotes

  1. ^ Dom St. Blaise. Zur Geschichte des Doms.
  2. ^ Dom St. Blaise. Zur Geschichte des Doms.
  3. ^ Johann Baptist Weiß Festrede, gehalten am 8. Tage der Feierlichkeiten bei Einweihung der neuen Kirche zu St. Blasien. St. Gallen, 1784 (Official speech given on the 8th day of the celebrations for the consecration of the new church at St. Blasien)

Sources

External links

47°45′36″N 8°07′48″E / 47.76000°N 8.13000°E / 47.76000; 8.13000

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