Tegernsee Abbey

Tegernsee Abbey (German Kloster Tegernsee, Abtei Tegernsee) is a former Benedictine monastery in the town and district of Tegernsee in Bavaria. Both the abbey and the town that grew up around it, are named after the Tegernsee, the lake on the shores of which they are located. The name is from the Old High German tegarin seo, meaning great lake.

Tegernsee Abbey, officially known as St. Quirinus Abbey for its patron saint St. Quirinus, was first built in the 8th century. Until 1803, it was the most important Benedictine community in Bavaria.

Today, the monastery buildings are known as Schloss Tegernsee (Tegernsee Castle) and are in the possession of the Wittelsbach family. The local Catholic parish church of Saint Quirinus is in the former abbey church. The former abbey premises also accommodate the well-known brewery Herzoglich Bayerisches Brauhaus Tegernsee, brew pub, restaurant and the Tegernsee Grammar School (Gymnasium Tegernsee).

The monastic community at Tegernsee was founded in the mid 8th century (in either 746 or around 765). It was settled by monks from St. Gall and dedicated to Saint Quirinus of Rome, whose relics were brought here from Rome in 804. Soon, the monastery spread the message of Christianity as far as the Tyrol and Lower Austria.

The founders were the brothers Otkar or Oatkar, and Adalbert, members of one of the ancient noble clans of Bavaria, although it is not certain exactly which family they were from. There is little definite information on the early days of the monastery as a result of a fire in about 970, which destroyed earlier evidence.

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