Foundation 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.
Middle Ages 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. The canonesses, commonly known as
Stiftsdamen, were allowed private property and, as they had taken no vows, were free at any time to leave the abbey. The Ottonian and
Salian kings and their entourages often stayed in Gandersheim, and the canonesses were by no means remote from the world. Apart from the memorial Masses for the founding family, one of the main duties of the canonesses was the education of the daughters of the nobility (who were not obliged to become canonesses themselves). One of the abbey's best-known canonesses was
Roswitha of Gandersheim, famous as the first female poet of the German people. During a period of approximately 20 years – from about 950 to 970 or so – she wrote historical poetry, spiritual pieces and dramas, and the
Gesta Ottonis, expressing her veneration of
Otto I. She wrote in Latin. In the Great
Gandersheim Conflict, as it is called, originating from the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries, the
Bishop of Hildesheim asserted claims over the abbey and its estates, which were located in an area where the boundaries between the Bishopric of Hildesheim and the
Archbishop of Mainz were unclear. The pressure from Hildesheim moved the abbey increasingly into the sphere of Mainz. The situation was only eventually resolved by a privilege of
Pope Innocent III of 22 June 1206 freeing the abbey once and for all from all claims of Hildesheim, and granting the abbesses the title of Imperial princesses (
Reichsfürstinnen). With the death of the last Salian king in 1125 the importance of the abbey began to diminish and it came more and more under the influence of the local territorial rulers. The
Welfs in particular attempted to gain control over the abbey, until its dissolution. The abbey was not able to establish its own territorial lordship. No later than the mid-1270s, the
Dukes of Brunswick succeeded in obtaining the
Vogtei of the abbey and in the late 13th century built a castle in Gandersheim. Another way to gain influence over the abbey was to place relatives in the abbess's chair. This took the Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg rather longer to achieve, but they were at last successful in 1402 with the election of their first family abbess, Sophia III, Princess of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
Reformation The
Reformation was first introduced into the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in 1542 when troops of the
Schmalkaldic League occupied it. The Reformers ignored the abbey's Imperial immediacy and ordained the use of
Lutheran church services, the introduction of which however the canonesses were able to postpone on account of the absence of the prioress (
Dekanin) who was governing the abbey on behalf of the seven-year-old abbess. The townspeople of Gandersheim had received the Reformation enthusiastically and on 13 July 1543 undertook an iconoclastic attack on the abbey church, where they destroyed images and altars.
Henry V changed his mind however and the principality changed back to
Roman Catholicism. He made good at least some of the damages, and the church was re-dedicated. In 1568 the Reformation was again implemented under
Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The abbey and its dependencies at Brunshausen and
Clus became Lutheran, and the
Marienkloster and the Franciscan friaries were suppressed. A period now began of conflict between the abbess and the duke as both tried to extend their spheres of influence, a conflict which was not settled until 1593 when a treaty finally settled the points of disagreement.
Baroque Under the abbesses Henriette Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Elisabeth Ernestine of Saxe-Meiningen there began a new golden age of the abbey. The abbesses promoted arts and sciences. Elisabeth Ernestine Antonie had the summer castle at Brunshausen built, as well as the Baroque wing of the abbey with the Kaisers' Hall (
Kaisersaal), and she refurbished the church.
Dissolution In 1802, faced with imminent
secularisation, the abbey surrendered its Imperial immediacy to the sovereignty of the Dukes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, thus ending the centuries-long struggle with the Welfs. During the French occupation Gandersheim belonged to the
Kingdom of Westphalia. The abbess, who had fled, was permitted by
Napoleon to return to the abbey and to live there until her death on 10 March 1810, after which there were no further elections for a successor. The abbey was dissolved and its assets were taken by the Westphalian crown, with the remaining occupants pensioned off. Even after the end of the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1813 the Duchy of Brunswick did not restore the abbey.
Present day The abbey is now used by the Evangelical-Lutheran parochial group of St. Anastasius and St. Innocent. During restoration works in 1997 there came to light some of the old
church treasure: relics, textiles and reliquaries. These have been on display since March 2006. == List of abbesses ==