Schäftlarn Abbey is a Benedictine monastery on the Isar

Isar

The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria and Bavaria, Germany. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald, and flows through Bad Tölz, Munich, and Landshut before reaching the Danube near Deggendorf. At 295 km in length, it is the fourth largest river...

 in Schäftlarn

Schäftlarn

Schäftlarn is a municipality in the district of Munich in Bavaria in Germany.-References:...

, south of Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 in Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, 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...

.

History

The monastery was founded in 762

762

Year 762 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 762 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* July 30 – Abbasid caliph al-Mansur...

 by Waltrich, a Benedictine monk of noble family, on his own land. During the next two centuries the monastery grew as a result of various gifts and endowments (among them the estates of Schwabing

Schwabing

Schwabing is a borough in the northern part of Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria. It is divided into the city borough 4 and the city borough 12...

 and Hesselohe).

From 1140 to its dissolution during the secularisation

German Mediatisation

The German Mediatisation was the series of mediatisations and secularisations that occurred in Germany between 1795 and 1814, during the latter part of the era of the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic Era....

 of Bavaria in 1803, Schäftlarn belonged to the Premonstratensian Order.

In 1866 King Ludwig I of Bavaria

Ludwig I of Bavaria

Ludwig I was a German king of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states.-Crown prince:...

 restored possession to the Benedictines, who set up a secondary school ("Gymnasium

Gymnasium (school)

A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...

") here.

The abbey is a member of the Bavarian Congregation

Bavarian Congregation

The Bavarian Congregation is a congregation of the Benedictine Confederation consisting of monasteries in Bavaria, Germany.It was founded on 26 August 1684 by the Blessed Pope Innocent XI .-First Congregation:...

 of the Benedictine Confederation

Benedictine Confederation

The Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict is the international governing body of the Order of Saint Benedict.-Origin:...

.

School

The school did close between 1941 and 1945 by the National Socialists

National Socialist German Workers Party

The National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party , existed from 1919 to 1920...

. Immediately after the war

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 the school, which is private, was re-opened as a "Progymnasium", that is to say, only for German forms 5 to 10 (equivalent to the Upper Fifth form), to the year before the Abitur

Abitur

Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...

. Abitur examinations were not conducted in Schäftlarn until 1973. In 2005 the school had about 420 pupils, both day pupils (boys and girls) and boarders (boys only).

Architecture

The present abbey buildings were constructed in 1707 to plans by Giovanni Antonio Viscardi

Giovanni Antonio Viscardi

Giovanni Antonio Viscardi was a Swiss architect of the baroque, who worked mostly in Bavaria....

. The church of Saint Denis, built as the abbey church, is a beautiful example of the Rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

 architectural style. It was begun as a new building from 1733 to 1740 under Francois de Cuvilliés

François de Cuvilliés

François de Cuvilliés was a Belgian-born Bavarian decorative designer and architect who was instrumental in bringing the Rococo style to the Wittelsbach court at Munich and to Central Europe in general.Cuvilliés was so diminutive in stature that it was as a court dwarf he first came to the notice...

 the Elder, and finished during the period from 1751 to 1760 by Johann Georg Gunetzrhainer and Johann Michael Fischer

Johann Michael Fischer

Johann Michael Fischer was a German architect in the late Baroque period....

. From 1754 to 1756 the church was painted and decorated with stucco by Johann Baptist Zimmermann

Johann Baptist Zimmermann

Johann Baptist Zimmermann was a German painter and a prime stucco plasterer during the Baroque.Zimmermann was born in Gaispoint, Wessobrunn. He and his brother Dominikus Zimmermann were descended from an artist family of the Wessobrunner School...

. From 1756 to 1764 Johann Baptist Straub

Johann Baptist Straub

Johann Baptist Straub was a German Rococo sculptor.-Biography:Straub was born in Wiesensteig, into a family of sculptors. His father Johann George Straub and his brothers Philipp Jakob, Joseph, and Johann Georg Straub were also sculptors, as was his nephew Franz Xaver Messerschmidt. J. B...

 worked on the altars and the chancel. There is also a formal garden

Garden à la française

The French formal garden, also called jardin à la française, is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order over nature. It reached its apogee in the 17th century with the creation of the Gardens of Versailles, designed for Louis XIV by the landscape architect André Le...

 here, the "Prelate's Garden", recently restored.

See also

• List of Carolingian monasteries
• Category: Rococo architecture of Germany

External links

Schäftlarn Abbey website Klöster in Bayern: Schäftlarn

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