Willibrord Located by the
River Sauer, Echternach had originally been the site of a 1st-century
Roman villa. By the 6th century, the estate had been passed to the
see of Trier, who constructed a small monastery on the estate. In 698,
Irmina of Oeren granted the
Northumbrian
missionary Willibrord,
Bishop of Utrecht, land at Echternach to build a larger monastery, appointing Willibrord as
abbot. In part, the choice was due to Willibrord's reputation as a talented proselytiser (he is known as the
Apostle to the Frisians). Willibrord opened the first church at Echternach in 700 with financial backing from
Pepin of Herstal. Pepin's son,
Charles Martel, founder of the
Carolingian dynasty, had his son
Pepin the Short baptised at Echternach in 714. In addition to Carolingian support, Willibrord's abbey at Echternach had the backing of
Wilfrid, with whom he had served at
Ripon. Willibrord secured the backing of many Irish monks, who would become part of the first settlement at Echternach. Willibrord spent much time at Echternach, and died there in 739. Willibrord was buried in the
oratory, which soon became a place of
pilgrimage, particularly after he was
canonised. In 751, Pepin declared the Abbey of Echternach a 'royal abbey', and granted it
immunity. It became later an
Imperial Abbey.
Carolingian Renaissance Beornrad, the third abbot of Echternach, was a great favourite of
Charlemagne, and was promoted to
Archbishop of Sens in 785. When Beornrad died, in 797, Charlemagne took direct control of the abbey for a year. The work of the monks at the abbey was heavily influenced by Willibrord's roots in
Northumbria and
Ireland, where a great emphasis was put on
codices, and Echternach developed one of the most important
scriptoria in the
Frankish Empire. The abbey at Echternach produced four
gospels (in order of production): the Augsburg Gospels,
Maaseyck Gospels,
Trier Gospels, and the
Freiburg Gospel Book Fragment. Manuscripts produced at Echternach are known to have been in both
insular and
Roman half uncial script. As Echternach was so prolific, and enjoyed the patronage of Pepin the Short and Charlemagne, it played a crucial role in the development of the early
Carolingian Renaissance. Seeing the work of the abbey at Echternach at taming the native German script, and eager to further the reform, Charlemagne sent for
Alcuin, to establish a scriptorium at the court in
Aachen. Alcuin synthesised the two styles into the standard
Carolingian minuscule, which predominated for the next four centuries. At the start of the ninth century, a larger, Carolingian-style church was constructed, but it was destroyed in a fire some 200 years later. The so-called
Emperor's Bible and the
Golden Gospels of Henry III were also produced in Echternach at this time, when production of books at the scriptorium peaked.
The modern abbey Around the middle of the 19th century, the choir began to crumble and it was feared that it might collapse completely. For this reason, an association was founded in 1862 for the reconstruction of the church (the Kirchbauverein). The rebuilding in a neo-roman style was completed in 1868, and the abbey was re-consecrated. In recognition of its importance as a national centre of pilgrimage to St. Willibrord, Pope Pius XII granted the abbey the status of minor basilica in 1939. Part of the basilica was blasted by retreating German Wehrmacht troops on December 26th 1944, necessitating another reconstruction - its sixth in 14 centuries - in the original Roman style. The facade is a nod to the basilica of Paray-le-Monial. The building was again re-consecrated in 1953, though the 8th-century crypt has survived throughout with no major damage. ==Chronology of churches==