Birklingen Monastery

Ground

The background of the monastery was first mentioned in the works of Abbot Johann Tritemius: the clergyman wrote down a legend about how an icon of the Virgin Mary was found in the Birklingen area in the forest; she was transferred to a small chapel. The monastery chronicle itself does not directly name this event, but reports that approximately in 1455 an image of Mary ( Pieta ) was placed in his chapel, which soon began to “work miracles”. The flow of pilgrims was constantly increasing and already in 1457 the Bishop of Wurzburg Johann III began to raise funds for the expansion of the church. A year later, on May 24, 1458, the first stone was laid in the foundation of the new church - Bishop Johannes Hutter took part in the ceremony.

Bishop Johann von Grumbach began to plan the construction of a monastery in the city of Birklingen, which became a gathering place for pilgrims. The monastery chronicle refers to the actual date of foundation according to the bull of Pope Pius II - dated April 16, 1459. However, some time after this, the monastery was empty. Meanwhile, the Bavarian War of 1459-1463 led to the invasion of the new monastery, which occurred on April 25, 1462 - despite the letter of protection. The monks fled to Iphofen, and the main buildings of the monastery survived the fire safely. Only in August 1462, the monks were able to return to the monastery and began to restore the destroyed economy. On April 24, 1463, the monastery gained independence: the canons received the right to choose a prior themselves. On September 18, 1463, a new monastery church was consecrated, and on December 24, the first divine service was held in it. The strengthening of the monastery led to an increase in pilgrimage to the region.

The following years, the researchers called the brief heyday of monastic life: he expanded his possessions, gained influence and acquired relics. So the counts of Castelli began to use the monastery church as a burial place for their family. The decline of the monastery began under the rector Michael Wiesandt: already on February 14, 1524, the inhabitants of Iphofen sacked the monastery wine cellar located in the city itself. A year later, in April 1525, the monastery received threats - it was required to transfer its grain reserves to the surrounding population. On May 3, city residents sacked and burned monastery buildings, including the pilgrimage church of St. Mary.

On January 9, 1526, Prior Michael transferred all the monastic values ​​to Bishop Conrad II - for which he received a pension of 583 guilders per year for himself and his monks. However, Pope Clement VII terminated this agreement - and urged to resettle the devastated monastery again. In 1527, the monks tried to restore the monastery, but already in 1542 the monastery property was transferred to the bishopric, and on February 22, 1546, the monks received permission to leave the monastery - this put an end to the history of Birklingen Abbey. The reasons for the failure to restore were called as the extensive destruction of the monastery and the lack of people, and the renewed confrontation between the monks and peasants.

• Buxheim Monastery
• Pilenhofen Monastery
• Guardian Angel Monastery in Burghausen

• Backmund, Norbert: Chorherrenorden und ihre Stifte in Bayern, Passau 1966, S. 69.
• Bauer, Hans: Das Kitzinger Land, Volkach o. J., S. 20-23.
• Breuer, Tilmann ua ​​(Bearb.): Dehio. Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Bayern I (Franken), München und Berlin 1999, S. 223.
• Freudenberger, Theodor: Quellen zur Geschichte der Wallfahrt und des Augustinerchorherrenstiftes Birklingen bei Iphofen (Mfr.) 1457-1546 // Würzburger Diözesangeschichtsblätter 5 (1937), S. 1 ff.
• Hojer, Gerhard: Ehemaliger Landkreis Scheinfeld, München o. J., S. 28 f.
• Schneider, Erich: Klöster und Stifte in Mainfranken, Würzburg 1993, S. 175 f.

• Erich Schneider. Birklingen - Verwüstete Wallfahrt (German) . hdbg.eu. Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte . Date of treatment April 22, 2019.