Ursberg Abbey

Imperial Abbey of Ursberg
Reichskloster Ursberg
Imperial Abbey of the Holy Roman Empire
1143–1803
Coat of arms
Capital		Ursberg
Government		Theocracy
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Founded	1126–28
•	Gained Reichsfreiheit	1143
•	Secularised to Bavaria	1803
Succeeded by Electorate of Bavaria
Today part of		Germany

Coat of arms

Ursberg Abbey (German: Kloster Ursberg) is a former Premonstratensian monastery, now a convent of the Franciscan St. Joseph's Congregation, situated in the small village of Ursberg in the district of Günzburg, Bavaria.

The monastery, dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist, was founded between 1126 and 1128 by the nobleman Wernher of Schwabegg-Balzhausen. It was the first Premonstratensian foundation in southern Germany. The monastery became an Imperial abbey (Reichsstift) in 1143.

As was usual with early Premonstratensian foundations, this was originally a double monastery, with a separate nunnery, which lasted until at least 1320 or so. Ursberg was very active in its early years in settling other Premonstratensian houses. This was largely due to the energetic prior Grimo, who was later declared Blessed. In 1128 Osterhofen near Passau was established, followed in about 1130 by Roggenburg Abbey and in 1135 by Kaisheim Abbey. In 1140 Premonstratensians from Ursberg took over Schäftlarn Abbey, and in 1142 Bishop Otto of Freising used them for the foundation of Neustift Abbey () in Freising.

The church was built in about 1230. Originally a Romanesque structure, it was refurbished in the Baroque style by the master builder of Wettenhausen Abbey, Josef Dossenberger the younger. The ceiling frescoes by Jakob Fröschle and Konrad Huber also stem from this period.

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Wikipedia