View source for Kaisheim Abbey

{{Infobox country
|native_name            = ''Reichsstift Kaisersheim''
|conventional_long_name = Imperial Abbey of Kaisersheim
|common_name            = Kaisheim Abbey
|
|image_map              = Engraving of Kaisersheim (Kaisheim) Abbey, circa 1700..jpg
|image_map_caption      = Kaisersheim in the 18th century
|era                    = Middle Ages
|status                 = Imperial Abbey
|empire                 = Holy Roman Empire
|government_type        = Elective principality
|today                  = [[Germany]]
|
|year_start             = 1135
|year_end               = 1802
|life_span              = 1135–1802 (''[[de jure]]'')<br>1135–1327 and 1656–1802 (''[[de facto]]'')
|
|event_pre              = Foundation charter
|date_pre               = 21 September 1135
|event_start            = Dedicated by [[Bishop of Augsburg|Bp Augsburg]]
|date_start             = 1183
|event1                 = [[County of Lechsgemünd|Cty Lechsgemünd]] extinct
|date_event1            = 1327
|event2                 = [[Imperial immediacy|Immediacy]] confirmed by<br>{{spaces|4}}[[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Charles IV]]
|date_event2            = <br>1346
|event3                 = [[Pfalz-Neuburg]] inherited<br>{{spaces|4}}the [[County of Graisbach]]
|date_event3            = <br>1505
|event4                 = Immunity agreed with<br>{{spaces|4}}[[Philip William, Elector Palatine|Philip of Pfalz-Neuburg]]
|date_event4            = <br>1656
|event_end              = [[German Mediatisation|Secularised]] to [[Electorate of Bavaria|Bavaria]]
|date_end               = 
|
|p1                     = County of Lechsgemünd
|image_p1               = [[File:Wappen Marxheim Bayern.svg|20px|alt=]]
|s1                     = Electorate of Bavaria
|flag_s1                = Flag of Bavaria (lozengy).svg
|
|image_coat             =Kaisersheim Abbey coat of arms.jpg
|
|footnotes              = <!--- Accepts wikilinks --->
}}
[[File:Aerial image of the Kaisheim Abbey (view from the southeast).jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Kaisheim Abbey]]
'''The Imperial Abbey of Kaisersheim''' (German:''Reichsstift Kaisersheim'' or ''Kloster Kaisersheim''), was a [[Cistercians|Cistercian]] monastery in Kaisersheim (now [[Kaisheim]]), Bavaria, Germany.

As one of the 40-odd self-ruling imperial abbeys of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], Kaisersheim was a virtually independent state. Its abbot had seat and voice at the Imperial Diet where he sat on the Bench of the Prelates of Swabia. At the time of its secularisation in 1802, the Abbey covered 136 square kilometers and has 9,500-10,000 subjects.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_45346|title = Reichsstifte in Schwaben – Historisches Lexikon Bayerns}}</ref>

== History ==
The monastery was founded by [[Henry II, Count of Lechsgemünd]] (d. 1142) and his wife Liutgard, and was a daughter house of [[Lucelle Abbey]] in [[Alsace]]. Count Henry's initial gift of the land was made in 1133; the foundation charter was dated 21 September 1135. The first church was dedicated in 1183 by the [[Bishop of Augsburg]], but was damaged in a fire in 1286, and re-built in its entirety between 1352 and 1387, when the new building was dedicated.

The foundation charter guaranteed the new monastery immunity and independence from secular powers, but on the extinction of the [[County of Lechsgemünd|Counts of Lechsgemünd]] in 1327, their territories passed to the [[Wittelsbach]] [[County of Graisbach|Counts of Graisbach]], who were unwilling to honour the original terms. Although in 1346 the abbey succeeded in obtaining from the [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Charles IV]] a confirmation of the rights included in the charter, and was declared an Imperial abbey ({{langx|de|Reichstift}}), the Wittelsbachs were not inclined to honour it.

In 1505, the territory of [[Pfalz-Neuburg]] was created, which inherited the rights of the County of Graisbach, including territorial rights over Kaisheim. During the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]], the conversion of [[Otto Henry, Elector Palatine|Otto Henry, Duke of Neuburg and Elector Palatine]], to [[Protestantism]], led to fears the abbey would be dissolved, although this danger soon passed.

Finally, in 1656 the then abbot George IV Müller reached agreement with [[Philip William, Elector Palatine|Duke Philip of Pfalz-Neuburg]] that the abbey's [[Imperial immediacy]] ({{langx|de|Reichsfreiheit}}) would be respected.<ref>Also at this time the abbey took over responsibility for the noblewomen's collegiate foundation (''[[Frauenstift|Damenstift]]'') at [[Pielenhofen Abbey]], previously administered by the state, as a subpriory.</ref> This carried with it the obligation however to provide troops to the imperial army when required, and from this date onwards the abbey had to accommodate a small standing force of soldiers of some 80 men.

The buildings underwent a major re-building in the 1720s in the [[Baroque]] style.

[[File:Former Kaisersheim Abbey, circa 1905.jpg|thumb|left|180px|The former abbey as a penitentiary]]
In 1802, the abbey was dissolved in the secularisation of Bavaria, and its assets taken by the Bavarian state. The premises were at first used for military purposes, later as accommodation for the displaced Bavarian [[Franciscan]]s. From 1816, the buildings have been used as a [[prison]], and now house the ''Justizvollzugsanstalt Kaisheim''.

The Kaiser's Hall and the library are of particular architectural interest. In the east wing, known as the Kaiser's wing, the ''Bayerisches Strafvollzugsmuseum'' ({{langx|en|Bavarian Museum of Punishment}}) has displayed the permanent exhibition ''Behind Bars'' since 1989.

{{Gallery|align=center
|width=150
|File:BY Kaisheim Abbey 8.jpg|alt1=A stone tomb, with the effigy of a robed man on top, with a coat of arms at his feet displaying a red panther on a blue-and-gold striped background.|The tomb of [[Henry III, Count of Lechsgemünd]], in Kaisheim Abbey
|File:Dehio 456 Kaisheim.jpg|alt2=The architectural plan of a cruciform building, with short transepts and a curved apse.|Plan of Kaisheim Abbey church
}}

== Abbots of Kaisersheim ==
{{div col |small=yes}}
* Udalrich 1133-1155
* Konrad I 1155-1165
* Diethelm 1165-1174
* Albert 1174-1194
* Ebbo 1194-1210
* Konrad II 1210-1228
* Heinrich I 1228-1239
* Richard 1239-1251
* Wolvich 1251-1262
* Heinrich II 1262-1266
* Trutwin 1266-1287
* Heinrich III 1287-1302
* Johann I Chonold 1302-1320
* Ulrich I Zoller 1320-1339
* Ulrich II Nubling 1339-1360
* Johann II Zauer 1360-1379
* Johann III Molitor 1379-1400
* Johann IV Scherb 1400-1422
* Kraft von Hochstadt 1422-1427
* Leonhard Weinmayer 1427-1440
* Nikolaus Kolb 1440-1458
* Georg I 1458-1479
* Johann V Vister 1479-1490
* Georg II Kastner 1490-1509
* Konrad III Reutter 1509-1540
* Johann VI Zauer 1540-1575
* Ulrich III 1575-1586
* Georg III 1586-1589
* Domenicus 1589-1594
* Sebastian 1594-1608
* Johann VII 1608-1626
* Jakob 1626-1637
* Georg IV 1637-1667
* Benedikt 1667-1674
* Hieronymus 1675-1681
* Elias 1681-1696
* Judas Thaddäus 1696-1698
* Roger von Röltz 1698-1739
* Cölestin I Meermols 1739-1771
* Cölestin II Angelsbrucker 1771-1783
* Franz Xaver Müller 1783-1803
{{div col end}}

==Notes and references==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Kloster Kaisheim|Kaisheim Abbey}}
* {{in lang|de}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20060615070422/http://kaisheim.de/markt/2geschichte/index.htm Kaisheim town website: history of Kaisheim Abbey]
* {{in lang|de}} [http://www.datenmatrix.de/projekte/hdbg/kloster/  Klöster in Bayern]
* {{in lang|de}} [http://museeninbayern.de/inhalt/content_fs.php?objID=447 Bayerisches Strafvollzugsmuseum Kaisheim] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031134915/http://museeninbayern.de/inhalt/content_fs.php?objID=447 |date=2007-10-31 }}

{{Swabian Circle}}
{{Rhenish College}}
{{Swabian College}}

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{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Monasteries in Bavaria]]
[[Category:Cistercian monasteries in Germany]]
[[Category:Imperial abbeys disestablished in 1802–03]]
[[Category:Prisons in Bavaria]]
[[Category:1130s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1130s]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Donau-Ries]]
[[Category:Monasteries used as prisons]]

[[fr:Abbaye de Heggbach]]