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Fürstenfeld Abbey (German:Kloster Fürstenfeld,[fʏʁstn̩fɛlt]) is a formerCistercian monastery inFürstenfeldbruck (formerly known simply asBruck),Bavaria,Germany.
It is situated about 25 km north-west ofMunich. The abbey was one of the household monasteries of theWittelsbachs. The abbey church of theAssumption of the Virgin Mary is held to be a masterpiece of the lateBaroque in southern Germany.
In 1256,Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (Louis the Severe) killed his first wife,Marie of Brabant (1226–1256) on suspicion of adultery (which later turned out to be unfounded), the penance for which, as imposed byPope Alexander IV, was the foundation of a monastery. The first foundation at Seldental, at Tal near Aibling, in 1258, was afterwards moved to the present site near the town of Bruck in 1263. Papal permission for the new foundation to be settled byCistercian monks fromAldersbach Abbey had been obtained as early as 1256, but was not confirmed by theBishop of Freising until 1265, in which year the new abbey was at last settled. The monks actively promoted the cult ofLeonard of Noblac, and his shrine at the nearby village ofInchenhofen became a major pilgrimage site.[1]
Louis II endowed and privileged the new abbey very handsomely and when he died, was buried here. His son,Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, was also a great benefactor to the abbey, which supported him in his dynastic struggle against the HabsburgerFrederick the Handsome. Emperor Louis IV died of a stroke at Puch nearby on 11 October 1347 during a bear hunt, and his heart was buried here. Both men named Louis are commemorated by elaborateBaroque monuments.
In theThirty Years' War, in 1632/33 the monastery was sacked by the troops ofKing Gustavus Adolphus ofSweden,[2] and the monks fled to Munich. From 1640 however the abbey began to make an economic recovery. Under Abbot Martin Dallmayr several churches were built and the number of monks doubled.
In 1691 the foundation stone was laid of theBaroque monastery buildings, responsibility for the construction of which lay with the Munich court architect and master builder,Giovanni Antonio Viscardi.
Construction began after theWar of the Spanish Succession, and completed about 1780.
Artists employed included the brothers Jacopo andFrancesco Appiani and theAsam brothers:[2]Cosmas Damian Asam painted the ceiling frescoes, andEgid Quirin Asam created the side altars and possibly also the design of the high altar.[3]
The church contains remains said to be those of SaintHyacinth of Caesarea andSaint Clemens.[2]
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In 1803, as a result of thegeneral secularisation in Bavaria, Fürstenfeld Abbey passed into private ownership. The new proprietor was Ignaz Leitenberger, aBohemian cloth manufacturer. In 1816 it became the property of KingMaximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and served as a church of the royal family.
In 1817 the Bavarian Field MarshalPrince Wrede bought the monastery, in which a year later a hospital and home for invalid soldiers was opened. In 1866 part of the premises to the south of the church, in use at the time as a hospital, was destroyed in a fire.
After 1918 the former service range became the property of theWittelsbach Compensation Fund, which rented it in 1923 toEttal Abbey.
In 1979 the town of Fürstenfeldbruck acquired the service buildings, which they re-modelled between 1987 and 2001 into a new cultural centre for the citizens of thedistrict of Fürstenfeldbruck.
Media related toKloster Fürstenfeld at Wikimedia Commons48°10′10″N11°14′58″E / 48.16944°N 11.24944°E /48.16944; 11.24944
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