#ottobeuren

Martha Rainer Werner Fassbinder. 1974

Library Sebastian-Kneipp-Straße 1, 87724 Ottobeuren, Germany See in map

Ottobeuren Abbey is a Benedictine abbey, located in Ottobeuren, near Memmingen in the Bavarian Allgäu, Germany.

It was founded in 764 by Blessed Toto, and dedicated to St. Alexander, the martyr. Abbot Rupert ushered in the most flourishing period in the history of Ottobeuren which lasted until its secularization in 1802. From 1711-1725 he erected the present monastery, the architectural grandeur of which has merited for it the name of "the Swabian Escorial".

For part of its history Ottobeuren Abbey was one of the 40-odd self-ruling imperial abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire and, as such, was a virtually independent state. In the zenith of its glory, Ottobeuren fell victim to the German mediatization along with all the other imperial abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire. On 1 December 1802 Ottobeuren was securalized and its territory annexed to Bavaria. At the time, the territory of the imperial abbey covered 266 square kilometers and had about 10,000 inhabitants.

Especially beautiful is library (Bibliotheca Ottenburana). This library has a valuable collection of medieval manuscripts, 457 incunables, some 15 thousand folios. The first library in the monastery was established soon after its founding.