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Engelberg Abbey Kloster Engelberg | |||||||||
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| 1236–1602 / 1798 | |||||||||
 Flag  Coat of arms | |||||||||
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| Status | Imperial abbey | ||||||||
| Capital | Engelberg Abbey | ||||||||
| Common languages | Highest Alemannic | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Founded | 1120 | ||||||||
1124 1236 | |||||||||
• Gained jurisdiction over local villages | 1236 | ||||||||
• Swiss Congregation created | 1602 | ||||||||
• Annexed byHelv. Rep. | 1798 | ||||||||
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Engelberg Abbey (German:Kloster Engelberg) is aBenedictinemonastery inEngelberg, Canton of Obwalden, Switzerland. It was formerly in theDiocese of Constance, but is now in theDiocese of Chur. It is dedicated toOur Lady of the Angels and occupies a commanding position at the head of theNidwalden Valley.
The Engelberg abbey was founded on the 1 April 1120 by Count Conrad of Sellenbüren,[1] and its firstabbot was Adelhelm, a monk ofMuri Abbey. The first inhabitants of Engelberg were also monks from the Muri abbey.[2] Von Sellenbüren entered the Engelberg abbey as a monk and died on the 2 Mai 1126.[3]
Pope Callistus II and theEmperor Henry IV both officially acknowledged the abbey in 1124. The abbey was placed under the immediate jurisdiction of theHoly See, who put it under protection bySaint Peter. In November 1224 Emperor Henry VI then also officially put the abbey under his protection.[4] In the founding documents, the new abbey was known asMons Angelorum[5] andEngilberc.[6]
Adelhelm, abbot until 1126, was followed by three disputed abbots which divided the community. They were followed by three abbots fromSt. Blaise's Abbey in the Black Forest, Frowin (1143/47-1178), Berchtold (1178-1197) and Henry (1197-1223). Under Frowin ascriptorium was founded. Around 1200 theEngelberger Meister wrote and illustrated several books from the scriptorium.[7] Since Frowin, the abbey was a so-calleddouble monastery, in which both nuns and monks lived.[2] The nuns established theSaint Andreas monastery [de] inSarnen in 1615.[2]
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 ofcollation to all theparishes of the Canton.[8]
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 ofPope Gregory IX in 1236. These and other rights they enjoyed until theFrench Revolution, in 1798, when most of them were taken away.[8] Its population diminished several times by theplague in the years 1349, 1548 and 1565.[1] In 1565, only one priest who was on service inKüssnacht survived of the community.[1]
The prominent position in Switzerland which the abbey occupied for so many centuries was seriously threatened by the religious and political disturbances of theReformation period, especially by the rapid spread of the teachings ofZwingli, and for a time its privileges suffered some curtailment.[8]
In 1602 Engelberg joined with other houses to form theSwiss Congregation of theBenedictine Confederation.[9]
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.[peacock prose] 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 thewritings ofMartin Luther. 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 foundedConception Abbey, atConception, Missouri in theUnited States; in 1882,Mount Angel Abbey was founded near what is nowMount Angel, Oregon, also in the United States.
William Wordsworth wrote a poem about the abbey entitled "Engelberg, The Hill of Angels".
Since 1851, there exists the Boarding School of the Abbey Engelberg, which was first performed by a secular rector since 2009. 2001, theAcademia Engelberg Foundation was founded.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Abbey of Engelberg".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
46°49′14″N8°24′35″E / 46.82056°N 8.40972°E /46.82056; 8.40972
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