Michaelsberg Abbey, Siegburg

For Michaelsberg Abbey in Bavaria, see Michaelsberg Abbey, Bamberg.

Imperial Abbey of Michaelsberg, Siegburg Reichsabtei Michaelsberg in Siegburg
Imperial Abbey of the Holy Roman Empire
← 1512–1676 →
Coat of arms
Capital	Siegburg
Government	Theocracy
Historical era	Middle Ages
- Founded	1064
- Gained Reichsfreiheit	1512
- Secularised to Berg	1676
Today part of	Germany

Michaelsberg Abbey, Siegburg

Michaelsberg Abbey (German: Abtei Michaelsberg) is a former monastery of the Benedictine Order, belonging to the Subiaco Congregation. The monastery is situated on the Michaelsberg ("St. Michael's Mount"), about 40 metres above the town of Siegburg. For this reason it is occasionally also referred to as Siegburg Abbey.

History

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 Archbishop Anno II of Cologne founded a Benedictine monastery there, dedicated to the Archangel Michael, from whom both the mountain and the abbey thenceforward took their names.

The monastery quickly became a reformed abbey in the Cluniac Reforms. After Archbishop Anno died in 1075 he was buried in the abbey and later canonised. In 1183 his bones were translated to the "Anno shrine", which can still be seen in the abbey church.

In 1512, after a long legal battle, the abbey was recognised as reichsunmittelbar (that is, directly subject to the Emperor and to no other territorial authority). 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.

The abbey was dissolved during the secularisation of 1802–03. Until their resettlement by the Cistercians 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.

In 1941 the abbey was again dissolved, this time by the SS; the monks were expelled and the buildings commandeered. The buildings were almost completely destroyed by a bombing raid in 1944, although they were in use as military hospital and flying the flag of the Red Cross. In 1945 the monks expelled four years previously were finally able to return, some from captivity as prisoners of war, others from exile. They had to rebuild the monastery virtually from scratch.

In the north wing and also in a large part of the west wing the Edith Stein Retreat House of the Diocese of Cologne has been accommodated since 1997.

In 2005, the community of Michaelsberg Abbey consisted of 13 members and one novice. The financial situation was uncertain and the Benedictine Association of MichaelBerg was placed in liquidation on 30 June 2011. The remaining 12 monks sadly left the Abbey. However the abbey church (except the crypt) is open daily to the public.

Alcohol production

In 1504 production of the abbey's liqueur, Siegburger Abtei-Likör, began. After an interruption, production was resumed in 1952 ^[1] .

Since 2004 a beer was also brewed here, called Michel.

Notes

1. ^ (German) Abtei Liqueur official website

References

• Firmenich, H., 1978: Die Abtei Michaelsberg in Siegburg. (Rheinische Kunststätten 99). 6th edn. Neuss: Gesellschaft für Buchdruckerei. ISBN 3-880-94229-3
• 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

• (German) Official website

Coordinates: 50°47′45″N 7°12′39″E / 50.79583°N 7.21083°E / 50.79583; 7.21083