prince bishopric · Germany and Central Europe

Imperial Abbey of Schussenried

1440 CE – 1803 CE (approx.) · capital Bad Schussenried

A Premonstratensian abbey in upper Swabia, famed for its rococo library hall, whose abbots ruled a small imperial territory.

Origins

Founded in 1183 by the lords of Schussenried as a house of Premonstratensian canons, the community was raised to an abbey in 1440. Its abbots gradually freed themselves from outside advocates, gaining imperial immediacy and a seat among the Swabian prelates of the empire.

Rule and society

The abbot ruled several villages in upper Swabia as a member of the Swabian Circle, supported by farms, forests and tithes. The abbey commissioned the pilgrimage church of Steinhausen, built by Dominikus Zimmermann from 1728, and in the 18th century began a grand new monastery whose library hall, painted by Franz Georg Hermann, is a masterpiece of rococo.

Decline and legacy

Secularised in 1803, Schussenried was granted to the counts of Sternberg-Manderscheid and passed to the Kingdom of Württemberg in 1806. The library hall survives in Bad Schussenried.

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Imperial Abbey of Schussenried. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/imperial-abbey-of-schussenried
MLA
“Imperial Abbey of Schussenried.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/imperial-abbey-of-schussenried. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Imperial Abbey of Schussenried.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/imperial-abbey-of-schussenried.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Imperial Abbey of Schussenried’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/imperial-abbey-of-schussenried (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻