Solemn High Mass. Elchingen Abbey Church, Oberelchingen, Germany. Former Imperial Abbey Of The Holy Roman Empire.

Elchingen Abbey Church, Oberelchingen, Germany.

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Solemn High Mass in Elchingen Abbey Church, Oberelchingen, Germany.

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Elchingen Abbey was a Benedictine Monastery in Oberelchingen, Germany. For much of its history, Elchingen Abbey was one of the forty-odd, self-ruling, Imperial Abbeys of The Holy Roman Empire and, as such, was a virtually Independent State that contained several villages, aside from the Monastery, itself. At the time of its Secularisation in 1802, the Abbey covered 112 square kilometers and had 4,000-4,200 subjects.

Dedicated to The Virgin Mary and Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the Monastery was Founded by The Counts of Dillingen in 1128. The Abbey was one of the very few Abbeys that enjoyed Imperial Immediacy (Independent of the Jurisdiction of any Lord and answering directly to The Holy Roman Emperor, and, thus, a Territorial Principality in its own right). The Abbot sat in The Reichstag of The Holy Roman Empire.

Like all the other Imperial Abbeys, Elchingen Abby lost its independence in the course of the Secularisation process in 1802-1803, and the Monastery was Dissolved. By 1840, the buildings had been almost entirely demolished. In 1921, The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate settled on the site. Today, the Abbey Church remains.

References: Wikipedia.

This Article was taken from SEMINAIRE SAINT-PIERRE WIGRATZBAD