Weihenstephan Abbey
Encyclopedia
Weihenstephan
Weihenstephan is a part of Freising north of Munich, Germany.Weihenstephan is known for:* the site of one of the three campuses of the Technische Universität München , namely the one for life sciences* the Fachhochschule Weihenstephan...
, now part of Freising district
Freising (district)
Freising is a district in Bavaria, Germany. Following a recent ranking of the German magazine FOCUS MONEY comparing all German districts it is number one concerning economic growth abilities. It is bounded by the districts of Kelheim, Landshut, Erding, Munich, Dachau and Pfaffenhofen.The district...
, 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...
.
Monastery
Saint Corbinian, whose arrival in Freising is dated at around 720, founded a church of Saint StephenSaint Stephen
Saint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
here, with a monk's cell attached to it, which seems to have disappeared again before the end of the 8th century. The monastery proper, dedicated at first to Saint Vitus, later to Saints Stephen
Saint Stephen
Saint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
and Michael, was founded by Bishop Hitto von Freising in approximately 811–835. From then until 1020 or 1021 it was a monastery of Augustinian canons. From 1021 it was a Benedictine abbey.
The abbey was dissolved in 1803 during the secularisation of Bavaria and its property sold off. In 1810 the abbey church, which had been made into a parish church, was demolished.
School
In the autumn of 1803 the Forestry School of MunichMunich
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...
was moved into the empty buildings; at the same time a model farm was established. A large part of the previous abbey economy, with buildings and stables as well as forests and fields, was transferred to the forestry school or the model farm. From 1804 agricultural science was taught here by Max Schönleutner.
But as early as 1807 both schools were wound up, as many teachers and students had taken part in Napoleon's invasion of Russia, from which few had returned. In 1852 the agricultural school was re-established in Weihenstephan and in 1895 became an agricultural college, which formed the nucleus of the Technical University of Munich
Technical University of Munich
The Technische Universität München is a research university with campuses in Munich, Garching, and Weihenstephan...
life sciences campus in Freising.
The World's oldest continuously operating brewery
The Weihenstephan Brewery can trace its roots at the abbey to the year 768, as a document from that year refers to a hop garden in the area paying a tithe to the monastery. A brewery was actually licensed by the City of Freising in 1040, and that is the founding date claimed by today's modern brewery. The brewery thus has a credible claim to being the oldest working brewery in the world. (Weltenburg AbbeyWeltenburg Abbey
Weltenburg Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Weltenburg in Kelheim on the Danube in Bavaria, Germany.-First foundation:...
, also in Bavaria, has had a brewery in operation since 1050, and also claims to be the oldest brewery in the world.) When the monastery and brewery were secularised under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803, they became possessions of the State of Bavaria.
Late history
Since 1923, the brewery has been known as the Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan (in German Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan), and is operated in conjunction with the Technical University of MunichTechnical University of Munich
The Technische Universität München is a research university with campuses in Munich, Garching, and Weihenstephan...
as both a state-of-the-art production facility and a centre for learning.
The brewery produces a range of pale lager
Pale lager
Pale lager is a very pale to golden-coloured beer with a well attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid 19th century when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing techniques back to the Spaten Brewery in Germany and applied it...
s and wheat beer
Wheat beer
Wheat beer is a beer that is brewed with a large proportion of wheat. Wheat beers often also contain a significant proportion of malted barley. Wheat beers are usually top-fermented...
s including Weihenstephaner Weissbier, a 5.4% abv
ABV
ABV is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* Alcohol by volume, a measure of the alcohol content of alcoholic drinks* Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Nigeria, from its IATA airport code...
weissbier
Weissbier
Weissbier , also known as Weizenbier , is a Bavarian specialty beer in which a significant proportion of malted barley is replaced with malted wheat: a wheat beer. By German law, Weissbiers brewed in Germany must be top-fermented...
which is available in filtered (Kristall) and unfiltered (Hefe) versions. The strongest beers the brewery produces are Vitus (a 7.7% abv wheat beer) and Korbinian (a 7.4% abv strong lager or bock
Bock
Bock is a strong lager of German origin. Several substyles exist, including maibock or helles bock, a paler, more hopped version generally made for consumption at spring festivals; doppelbock, a stronger and maltier version; and eisbock, a much stronger version made by partially freezing the beer...
).