Imperial Abbey of Zwiefalten

Origins

Zwiefalten was founded in 1089 by the counts of Achalm as a Benedictine monastery, settled from Hirsau. For centuries the dukes of Württemberg held its advocacy and pressed claims over it, until the abbey bought its independence in 1750 and became an imperial abbey.

Rule and society

The abbot ruled several villages as a prelate of the Empire and sat on the Swabian bench of prelates. Wealth from estates paid for the rebuilding of the abbey church between 1739 and 1765 by Johann Michael Fischer, with stucco by Johann Michael Feichtmayr and frescoes by Franz Joseph Spiegler, a masterpiece of the late baroque.

Decline and legacy

In 1802 and 1803 the abbey was secularised and its lands given to the Duchy of Württemberg. The monastery buildings became a psychiatric hospital in 1812, a role they still fill; the church is now a parish church.