Abbey and Community
History
According to tradition, the Benedictine abbey Frauenwörth in the Chiemsee was already around the year 772 by Bavarian Duke Tassilo III. (746-788)..
Bishop Virgil of Salzburg consecrated the church on September 1, 782.
Around 850, Blessed Irmengard (831 / 33-866) became the first known Abbess of the abbey.
This period under the ruling race of the Carolingians was abruptly interrupted by the Hungarian storms in the first half of the 10th century.
Due to the investiture dispute, the abbey lost its imperial immediacy in the middle of the 11th century. Archbishop Anno of Cologne donated the abbey in 1062 to the Archbishop of Salzburg.
In 1254, the Bavarian dukes finally obtained the right over Frauenwoerth. As a remnant of the old imperial immediacy, the abbey retained the name "royal pen" until the secularization of 1803 and was reserved for the daughters of the nobility.
1722/30, the monastery building under Abbess Irmengard von Scharfsedt (1702-1733) were built from scratch and larger than before.
In 1803, the abbey was dissolved in the course of secularization. The nuns were allowed to stay. Five of them were rebuilt in 1838 under King Ludwig I of Bavaria.
In 1901, the monastery was raised again to the abbey and is thus next to the Nonnberg in Salzburg, the oldest existing German-speaking nunnery north of the Alps.
During the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) Magdalena Haidenbucher (1609-1650) came to the government as a pious and strong-minded woman. The monastery became a sanctuary for other women's convents in Bavaria, which were hit by the war.
Animated portrait of the abbess with audio sample from her diary:
The Blessed Irmengard
Irmengard was a daughter of King Ludwig the German and great-granddaughter of Charlemagne. She died on July 16, 866 at the age of about 33 years. The 9th century Codex Sangallensis has its date of death.
The Tradition tells of their sacred life and work. This assumption confirms the burial of their bones under the southwestern pillar of the Minster in a marble coffin.
Around the year 1000, at a first grave opening, their worship was attested by the addition of a small stick, which has been preserved as valuable evidence to this day. On Friday, October 17, 1631, the remains of Irmengard were raised from their original grave.
On this occasion, on the right side of the intact skeleton, there was a flat slab labeled on both sides:
"Here rests Irmingard, the daughter of Louis, the exalted king, the exceedingly blessed virgin ... seen at the time of Abbess Tuta. Previously, she (the monastery) had stood for many years."
Among the verses is on the edge:
"On the 16th of July she laid down the earthly body." ... and on the right narrow side the request “ORA PRO NOBIS”
On both sides of the left margin and at the top is a verse from the Apostle Paul's Letter to the Philippians (Phil 4: 4-5):
"Believe and rejoice in the Lord all the time! And again and again I want to say it: Rejoice! Let all people know your kindness! The Lord is near!"
However, the historical sources remain sparse. The tradition of the monastery tells of its piety, of its love of God and neighbor, of its concern for all the poor around it. The official beatification took place by Pope Pius XI. in December 1928.
As before, Blessed Irmengard proves to be an advocate in the diverse concerns of the people. Every year, thousands of people make pilgrimages to the consecrated Irmengard Chapel in the Minster and confidently pray to her. Every year, on the Sunday before or after 16 July, the convent, together with the numerous faithful of the Chiemgau, solemnly celebrates the day of their death with a Pontifical Mass, accompanied by chorus and orchestra, in the Minster of Frauenwörth.
The Federation of the Bavarian Benedictine Abbeys
The women's abbeys Nonnberg in Salzburg, Frauenwörth im Chiemsee, Sankt Walburg in Eichstätt, Sankt Gertrud in Tettenweis, Maria Frieden in Kirchschletten, Saint Walburg in Virginia Dale (USA) and the Saint Emma Priory in Greensburg (USA) closed in 1986 together to the Federation of the Bavarian Benedictine Abbeys (FBBA).
