Engelberg Abbey (Bavaria)
Aerial view from 2008
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 Location within Germany
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| Monastery information | |
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| Order | Franciscan |
| Established | 1630s |
| Dedicated to | B.V. Mariae gloriosae |
| Diocese | Würzburg |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Cologne Observantenprovinz of the Franciscans |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | listed monument |
| Style | mostly Baroque |
| Site | |
| Location | Grossheubach, Bavaria, Germany |
| Coordinates | 49°43′26″N 9°13′55″E / 49.72389°N 9.23194°ECoordinates: 49°43′26″N 9°13′55″E / 49.72389°N 9.23194°E |
| Public access | yes (limited) |
Kloster Engelberg (Engelberg Abbey) is a Franciscan monastery in Grossheubach in Bavaria, Germany. In the past, a pilgrimage dedicated to a figure of Mary, documented as far back as 1406, was administered by the Capuchins after 1630. Following secularization in the early 19th century, the Capuchins eventually left and the Franciscan order took over the abbey and caring for the pilgrims. The abbey is (partially) open to the public.
Kloster Engelberg is located on the hill Engelberg ("hill of Angels") above the town of Grossheubach, on the right bank of the river Main near the district town of Miltenberg.
It is passed by the long-distance hiking trail Eselsweg which connects Schlüchtern to Grossheubach and follows the route of a historic road that was used to transport salt across the Spessart range.
The hill spur on which the abbey is situated was likely used in prehistoric times as a cult site. Around 1300, a wooden chapel dedicated to St. Michael was built there and a statue of Mary erected before 1400. The likely location of this chapel was where the choir of today's church stands. The first documented pilgrimage took place in 1406. In 1469, a brotherhood was established in connection with the Engelberg pilgrimage. In 1483, Grossheubach came to the Archbishop of Mainz in a land swap with the Teutonic Order that had held the village and its surroundings since 1291.
In 1630, Anselm Kasimir von Wambold, Archbishop of Mainz, asked Capuchins from the Rhenish Province to come here. The abbey was finished by 1639. At the same time the church was enlarged and largely achieved its current, Baroque, form. After 1647, the monastery had the status of Konvent (previously it had been a pilgrims' Hospice). In 1697, the Antonius chapel was added. In 1701, the Gnadenbild der Freudenreichen Muttergottes (statue of Mary) from the early or mid-14th century, was set up in a new side-chapel on the right.
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Wikipedia