- Wiblingen Abbey
Infobox Former Country
native_name = "Reichsabtei Wiblingen"
conventional_long_name = Imperial Abbey of Wiblingen
common_name = Wiblingen Abbey|
continent = Europe
region = Central Europe
country = Germany
era = Middle Ages
status = Abbey
empire = Holy Roman Empire
government_type = Theocracy|
year_start = 1701
year_end = 1806|
event_pre = Abbey founded
date_pre =1093
event_start = Gained "Reichsfreiheit "
date_start =
event1 = Occupied by Baden,
then Bavaria
date_event1 =1805
event_end = Mediatised to
Württemberg
date_end =1806
event_post = Raised tobasilica minor
byPope John Paul II
date_post =1993 |
p1 = Duchy of Swabia
image_p1 =
s1 = Kingdom of Württemberg
flag_s1 = Flagge Königreich Württemberg.svg|
|
image_map_caption = Map of part ofWürttemberg before theFrench Revolutionary Wars , showing Wiblingen Abbey just south of theDanube , running through the centre of the image.|
capital = Wiblingen
national_motto =
national_anthem =
common_languages = Alemannic German
religion = Roman Catholic
currency =Wiblingen Abbey was a former
Benedictine abbey which was later used as barracks. Today its buildings house several departments of the medical faculty of theUniversity of Ulm . The former abbey is located south of the confluence of the riversDanube andIller , south of the city ofUlm in the German state ofBaden-Württemberg . Administratively, the former independent village of Wiblingen now belongs to the city of Ulm. The abbey is part of theUpper Swabian Baroque Route .History
From the foundation to 1701
Wiblingen Abbey was founded in
1093 by the counts Hartmann and Otto von Kirchberg.The counts offeredmonk s ofSt. Blaise's Abbey in the Black Forest lands near the river Iller, which the monks used to found a filial institution. In 1099, the first buildings were consecrated. The firstabbot wasWerner von Ellerbach . In the same year, the founding counts offered the abbey a splinter of theHoly Cross which they had acquired during their participation in theFirst Crusade .During the High and the
Late Middle Ages Wiblingen Abbey was famous for its scholarship and learning as well as being a place of exemplary monastic discipline due its strict adherence to the rule of St. Benedict.During the
Thirty Years' War the abbey suffered repeatedly from warfare. On the initiative of AbbotJohannes Schlegel the Holy-Cross-Relic was hidden in order to protect it from marauding Protestant Swedish troops. However, following the withdrawal of the Swedish troops the relic could not be recovered, since there was no one alive who remembered its hiding place, the witnesses to its concealment all having succumbed to the plague. Only years later, the immured relic was rediscovered.Due to the efforts of Abbot
Benedict Rauh , whose term in office lasted from 1635 to 1663 and who also functioned as military bishop to the Bavarian army, the abbey managed to survive the calamities of the war. He is also responsible for instigating the abbey's economic recovery after 1648. The increasing economic and political importance under abbotsErnest Fabri ,Maurus Falkner andModest I led to the abbey being granted the status of Imperial immediacy in 1701.1701–1806 — Renewal of the abbey
The status of the abbey as an independent territory within
Further Austria seems to have brought about the renewal of the abbey buildings, a process that started in 1714. Most buildings were erected in Late-Baroque -style with the exception of the church, which was to become one of the main examples of Early-Neo-classicism in Southern Germany. The structures of the medieval abbey had been continuously enlarged and changed during the previous centuries with the originally church having been built in the style ofRomanesque architecture .When the Wiblingen Abbey achieved the status of Imperial immediacy, an extensive plans for a rebuilding of the abbey, based on
El Escorial inSpain , were made with the abbey church in its centre surrounded by a symmetrical quarters and courtyards. The plans were drafted by Baroque-architect Christian Wiedemann . Works began with the building of the courtyards whose design was influenced by the plans forEinsiedeln Abbey by architectCaspar Moosbruger . However, in 1730 the original design was altered with as a consequence that the gate house and the church were not on one axis any longer. More changes to the original design were made: the originally planned central building was replaced by an elongated structure, probably influenced by the design ofWeingarten Abbey and plans by Caspar Moosbruger.Following Wiedemann's design, the famous library was built in the North wing of the abbey. At the time of completion in 1744, the works were already supervised by Christian Wiedemann's nephew
Johann Wiedemann . In 1750, a new superintendent,Johann Michael Fischer , was appointed. He revised the original plans by Wiedemann. His main achievement is the new design for the East wing which was given a conspicuousrisalit thereby emphasizing on the one hand the role of thechapter house as the centre of the monastic organisation and the fact that it was also the centre of a semi-sovereign territorial unit of power. The facade of this building was modelled on the Imperial Court Library inVienna which was chosen in order to demonstrate the abbey's attachment to the imperial house.Fischer's contribution to the design of the abbey church are still controversial. The original drafts cannot be attributed to Fischer directly due their containing numerous errors and inaccuracies which implies that the existing drafts were inspired by Fischer but not drawn by him. The sketches must have been drawn by one of his successors after Fischer's departure in 1757. It is possible that the sketches were made either by Johann Wiedemann or his son
Dominikus Wiedemann who worked withBalthasar Neumann atNeresheim Abbey from where the drafts were later moved to the central archive of the Princes ofThurn und Taxis inRegensburg .Due to financial strains the building of the church had not even started at the time of the death of Abbot
Meinrad Hamberger (1730-1762). His successor, Modest II (1762-1768), either showed no interest in continuing the building works or was suffering from lack of revenue to complete them. Only during the term of AbbotRoman Fehr (1768-1798) the foundation of the church was laid. His superintendent wasJohann Georg Specht , who had intimate knowledge of the erection of the church at theAbbey of St. Gall and of thePilgrimage Church Birnau . He planned his building in Wiblingen according to these examples which would have resulted in the church having a Late-Baroque appearance. However, he could not further his design since he was pushed aside by thefresco painterJanuarius Zick , who had been educated to become an architect byJakob Emele atSchussenried Abbey . Zick managed to finish the church in the so-called Greek-style, a term designating very early Neo-classicist buildings. He succeeded in doing so particularly in the interior where there is a balance between early Neo-classicism and a reminiscence of late Baroque. The facade remained incomplete even though the last abbot,Ulrich IV , tried in vain to have it finished during theNapoleonic Wars . The South wing remained unfinished too until 1917.Secularisation
After Austria's defeat during the
War of the Third Coalition in 1805, the abbey was first occupied by troops of the Grand Duchy of Baden and then by Bavarian troops. In 1806, the abbey became property of the newly founded Kingdom of Württemberg whereupon the Bavarian troops left after they had auctioned off all the remaining furniture. Wiblingen Abbey was one of the last monasteries to be dissolved during the mediatisation of ecclesiastical states and territories. The monks moved to Tyniec Abbey, now part of the Polish city ofKraków . Wiblingen Abbey became a residence for Duke Henry Heinrich, brother ofFrederick I of Württemberg .In the 1840s, the former abbey became part of the Federal Fortress Ulm and was used, since 1848, as infantry
barracks . Only then, the convent building surrounding the abbey church was finished. Those buildings which had originally not been able to be completed were erected between 1915 and 1917 by using old drafts. Until the end ofWorld War II the former abbey was used as barracks. After the war the buildings housed refugees.Today
Wiblingen is part of the Upper Swabian baroque Route. The abbey church and the abbey library in the North wing of the abbey are open to the public. Guided tours are available. The abbey museum, opened in 2006, is located in the former guest rooms of the convent.
The abbey church St. Martin is used as a Catholic parish church and was elevated to the status of
basilica minor byPope John Paul II in 1993.The rest of the North wing and the adjoining former commercial buildings are now part of the
University of Ulm , housing the School for Medical Documentation.The South wing of the abbey, having been rebuilt in 1917, is part of the local network of municipal
retirement home s.Further reading
*Beck, O. (1997). "Einstige Kloster- und heutige Pfarrkirche Sankt Martinus in Wiblingen. Päpstliche Basilika". Lindenberg: Kunstverlag Fink. ISBN 3-931-82055-6
*Bölz G. (1922). "Die Baugeschichte des Klosters Wiblingen". Stuttgart: Technische Hochschule, diss.
*Braig M. (2001). "Wiblingen. Kurze Geschichte der ehemaligen vorderösterreichischen Benediktinerabtei in Schwaben". Weißenhorn: Konrad. ISBN 3-87437-456-4
*Feulner, A. (1925). "Kloster Wiblingen". Augsburg: Filser.
*Kessler-Wetzig, I. (1993). "Kloster Wiblingen. Beiträge zur Geschichte und Kunstgeschichte des ehemaligen Benediktinerstiftes". Ulm: Süddeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft. ISBN 3-882-94189-8
*May, J. (2002). "Die Bibliothek des Benediktinerklosters Wiblingen". Ulm: Landratsamt Alb-Donau-Kreis. ISBN 3-980-66647-6
*Münch, I. (1999). "Kloster Wiblingen". München: Deutscher Kunstverlag, München. ISBN 3-422-03058-1
*Schwenger, A. (1930). "Abtei Wiblingen". München: Zerle.
* Staatsanzeiger-Verlag (ed.) (2006). "Wiblingen : Kloster und Museum". Stuttgart: Staatsanzeiger für Baden-Württemberg. ISBN 3-929-98159-9.External links
* [http://www.kloster-wiblingen.de/en/268050.html Wiblingen Abbey]
* [http://www.tourismus.ulm.de/kurzinfos/gb-u_ulm.pdf Tourism Ulm, containing brief information of Wiblingen Abbey]
* [http://www.lad-bw.de/kloester-bw/kloster1.php?nr=596 Benedictine Abbey St Martin Wiblingen ("in German")]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.