Salem Abbey
Encyclopedia
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
as Salomonis Villa, was a very prominent Cistercian monastery in Salem in the district of Bodensee about ten miles from Konstanz
Konstanz
Konstanz is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland. The city houses the University of Konstanz.-Location:...
, Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Abbey
The abbey was founded in 1136 by Gunthram of Adelsreute (d. 1138) as a daughter house of Lützel AbbeyLützel Abbey
Lucelle Abbey or Lützel Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in the present village of Lucelle, in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace, France, but located right on the Swiss border....
in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, in the foundation of which Gunthram had also been involved. Lützel was a daughter house of Bellevaux Abbey
Bellevaux Abbey
Bellevaux Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1120 by Pons de Morimond, near the present-day Cirey, Haute-Saône, France. At that time it was in Franche-Comté. It was suppressed in 1790 and sold in 1791. Shortly afterwards the church was demolished. 1795 the buildings were bought by...
, in its turn the first daughter house of Morimond
Morimond Abbey
Morimond Abbeyis a religious complex in Parnoy-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne department, in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It was the fourth of the four great daughter abbeys of Cîteaux Abbey, of primary importance in the spread of the Cistercian Order, along with La Ferté to the south,...
. Blessed Frowin of Bellevaux, formerly the travelling companion and interpreter of Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
, became the first abbot of Salem. He had been professed at Bellevaux, and was of the colony sent to found Lützel, and this has caused some misunderstandings in the past to the effect that Salem was founded from Bellevaux rather than from Lützel.
The abbey soon became very prosperous. Extensive and magnificent buildings, erected in three squares, and a splendid church were constructed between 1182 and 1311. Salem was noted as the richest and most beautiful monastery in Germany, being particularly renowned for its hospitality. Amongst its greatest benefactors and patrons were Conrad of Swabia
Conrad III of Germany
Conrad III was the first King of Germany of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He was the son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, and Agnes, a daughter of the Salian Emperor Henry IV.-Life and reign:...
and Frederick Barbarossa. The former placed the abbey under the special protection of himself and his successors, whence the title of "Imperial abbey" ("Reichsabtei" or "Reichskloster" — independent from all territorial lordship
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
bar that of the emperor alone) which was renewed several times under Barbarossa and his successors. Pope Innocent II
Pope Innocent II
Pope Innocent II , born Gregorio Papareschi, was pope from 1130 to 1143, and was probably one of the clergy in personal attendance on the antipope Clement III .-Early years:...
also took the abbey under his particular patronage.
Its growth was continuous; after having made three important foundations — Raitenhauslach Abbey (1143), Wettingen Abbey
Wettingen Abbey
Wettingen Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in Wettingen in the Swiss canton of Aargau. It was founded in 1227 and dissolved during the secularisation of 1841, but re-founded at Mehrerau in Austria in 1854...
or Stella Maris (1227), and Königsbronn Abbey
Königsbronn Abbey
Königsbronn Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in Königsbronn in Heidenheim an der Brenz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-Pre-Reformation:...
(1303) — it still numbered 285 monks at the beginning of the 14th century. Its abbot, from 1454 on, was privileged to confer subdeaconship on his monks.
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
complex.
Later in the century the abbey undertook between 1746 and 1749 the development of the pilgrimage church of Birnau under the supervision of Peter Thumb
Peter Thumb
Peter Thumb was an Austrian architect whose family came from the Vorarlberg, the westernmost part of Austria. He is best known for his Rococo architecture, mainly in Southern Germany...
.
Caspar Oexle, who, as librarian, had increased the library to 30,000 volumes and a great number of manuscripts, was elected abbot in March 1802. In September of the same year the abbey was suppressed and given to the Margrave of Baden, while the library was added to that of Petershausen Abbey
Petershausen Abbey
Petershausen Abbey was a Benedictine monastery at Petershausen, now a district of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-History:...
, and finally sold to the University of Heidelberg.
The church, known as Salem Minster ("Salemer Münster"), a Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
structure which escaped the fire of 1697, became a parish church; but the famous grand tower with its fifteen bells, the largest weighing 10,000 lb
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
, was destroyed in 1805–07.
Secularization
Following the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss 1803 and the nearly complete secularizationSecularization
Secularization is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions...
in Germany the history of the monastery ended and the monks left the abbey.
Castle
The other abbey buildings were used as the castle of the Grand Dukes of Baden, and the site was from then on known as Schloss Salem.School
In 1920, part of the castle premises were acquired for use as a boarding school, which continues to this day as the Schule Schloss SalemSchule Schloss Salem
Schule Schloss Salem is a boarding school with campuses in Hohenfels, Salem and Überlingen in Baden-Württemberg, Southern Germany. It is considered one of the most elite schools in Europe.It offers the German Abitur, as well as the International Baccalaureate...
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