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Gandersheim Abbey
Gandersheim Abbey (German: Stift Gandersheim) is a former house of secular canonesses (Frauenstift) in the present town of Bad Gandersheim in Lower Saxony, Germany; at present it is the Evangelical Lutheran Collegiate Church of Saints Anastasius and Innocent at Gandersheim Abbey (German: Evangelisch-lutherische Stiftskirche der Heiligen Anastasius und Innocentius am Stift Gandersheim).
It was founded in 852 by Count Liudolf of Saxony and his wife, Oda, progenitors of the Liudolfing or Ottonian dynasty, whose rich endowments ensured its stability and prosperity.
The "Imperial free secular foundation of Gandersheim" (Kaiserlich freies weltliches Reichsstift Gandersheim), as it was officially known from the 13th century to its dissolution in 1810, was a community of the unmarried daughters of the high nobility, leading a godly life but not under monastic vows, which is the meaning of the word "secular" in the title.
Mass according to the Evangelical Lutheran tradition is held every Sunday at the Evangelical Lutheran Collegiate Church of Saints Anastasius and Innocent at Gandersheim Abbey.
In the collegiate church the original Romanesque church building is still visible, with Gothic extensions. It is a cruciform basilica with two towers on the westwork, consisting of a flat-roofed nave and two vaulted side-aisles. The transept has a square crossing with more or less square arms, with a square choir to the east. Beneath the crossing choir is a hall-crypt. The westwork consist of two towers and a connecting two-storey block; it originally had in addition a projecting entrance hall, also on two storeys, the "paradise". The present church building, which has been subject to restoration in the 19th and 20th centuries, was begun in about 1100 and dedicated in 1168. Remains of the previous building are incorporated into the present structure.
Gandersheim Abbey was a proprietary foundation by Count Liudolf of Saxony and his wife, Oda, who during a pilgrimage to Rome in 846 obtained the permission of Pope Sergius II for the new establishment and also the relics of the sainted former popes Anastasius I and Innocent I, who are still the patron saints of the abbey church. The community settled first at Brunshausen (Brunistishusun). The first abbess was Hathumod, a daughter of Liudolf and Oda. In 856 construction began on the church at Gandersheim and in 881 Bishop Wigbert dedicated it to the Saints Anastasius, Innocent and John the Baptist, after which the community moved in.
Already in 877 King Louis the Younger placed the abbey under the protection of the Empire, which gave it extensive independence. In 919 King Henry the Fowler, a grandson of Liudolf and Oda, granted it Imperial immediacy. The close connection to the Empire meant that the abbey was obliged to provide accommodation to the German kings on their travels, and numerous royal visits are recorded.
The establishment of the abbey by the founder of the Liudolfingers gave it especial importance during the Ottonian period. Until the foundation of Quedlinburg Abbey in 936, Gandersheim was among the most important Ottonian family institutions, and its church was one of the Ottonian burial places.
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Gandersheim Abbey
Gandersheim Abbey (German: Stift Gandersheim) is a former house of secular canonesses (Frauenstift) in the present town of Bad Gandersheim in Lower Saxony, Germany; at present it is the Evangelical Lutheran Collegiate Church of Saints Anastasius and Innocent at Gandersheim Abbey (German: Evangelisch-lutherische Stiftskirche der Heiligen Anastasius und Innocentius am Stift Gandersheim).
It was founded in 852 by Count Liudolf of Saxony and his wife, Oda, progenitors of the Liudolfing or Ottonian dynasty, whose rich endowments ensured its stability and prosperity.
The "Imperial free secular foundation of Gandersheim" (Kaiserlich freies weltliches Reichsstift Gandersheim), as it was officially known from the 13th century to its dissolution in 1810, was a community of the unmarried daughters of the high nobility, leading a godly life but not under monastic vows, which is the meaning of the word "secular" in the title.
Mass according to the Evangelical Lutheran tradition is held every Sunday at the Evangelical Lutheran Collegiate Church of Saints Anastasius and Innocent at Gandersheim Abbey.
In the collegiate church the original Romanesque church building is still visible, with Gothic extensions. It is a cruciform basilica with two towers on the westwork, consisting of a flat-roofed nave and two vaulted side-aisles. The transept has a square crossing with more or less square arms, with a square choir to the east. Beneath the crossing choir is a hall-crypt. The westwork consist of two towers and a connecting two-storey block; it originally had in addition a projecting entrance hall, also on two storeys, the "paradise". The present church building, which has been subject to restoration in the 19th and 20th centuries, was begun in about 1100 and dedicated in 1168. Remains of the previous building are incorporated into the present structure.
Gandersheim Abbey was a proprietary foundation by Count Liudolf of Saxony and his wife, Oda, who during a pilgrimage to Rome in 846 obtained the permission of Pope Sergius II for the new establishment and also the relics of the sainted former popes Anastasius I and Innocent I, who are still the patron saints of the abbey church. The community settled first at Brunshausen (Brunistishusun). The first abbess was Hathumod, a daughter of Liudolf and Oda. In 856 construction began on the church at Gandersheim and in 881 Bishop Wigbert dedicated it to the Saints Anastasius, Innocent and John the Baptist, after which the community moved in.
Already in 877 King Louis the Younger placed the abbey under the protection of the Empire, which gave it extensive independence. In 919 King Henry the Fowler, a grandson of Liudolf and Oda, granted it Imperial immediacy. The close connection to the Empire meant that the abbey was obliged to provide accommodation to the German kings on their travels, and numerous royal visits are recorded.
The establishment of the abbey by the founder of the Liudolfingers gave it especial importance during the Ottonian period. Until the foundation of Quedlinburg Abbey in 936, Gandersheim was among the most important Ottonian family institutions, and its church was one of the Ottonian burial places.