Establishment of the abbey The hill was inhabited before the abbey was founded. Excavations have uncovered massive walls and a moat from the 10th century.
History in the Middle Ages Heinrich supported the abbey with rich gifts, including properties. Three books with which the abbey was initially endowed are still in the
Staatsbibliothek Bamberg. The abbey followed the
Hirsau Reforms, which also resulted in the building of a new church. The
chronicler and author
Frutolf of Michelsberg was
prior here until his death in 1103. The abbey flourished under Bishop
Otto (d. 1139), whose burial in the abbey church and subsequent
canonisation in 1189, together with the papal protection granted to the abbey in 1251, was of enormous advantage in increasing the independence of the abbey from the bishops. Under abbot Wolfram (d. 1123), appointed by Otto, the number of monks on the Michaelsberg reached its all-time high of 70 (from 20 under his predecessor). The award to the abbots of the
pontificalia had taken place some time before 1185. After Otto's canonization he became a patron of the abbey, together with St. Michael. Until the 18th century, the abbey continued to fight the
Hochstift in various legal battles, trying to achieve the status of
Imperial Abbey. A document from Heinrich (dated 1017) states that Eberhard had founded the abbey, and that it was a private or proprietary abbey. However, from the 12th century on, the abbey's chroniclers tried to label Heinrich (and later also his wife Kunigunde) as the true founder(s), in order to reduce the influence of the bishop. The abbey's financial status rested securely upon its great ownership of lands in the bishopric, eventually extending to 441 towns and villages. It became one of the culturally most important Benedictine abbeys in southern Germany, with its
scriptorium being especially famed.
Modern history A decline set in around 1420, resulting in reform attempts. In 1430, the
Hussites sacked the abbey. In 1435, the abbey came into conflict with the townspeople of Bamberg and was plundered. In 1446 the abbey's debt had grown so large, that the bishop, Anton von Rotenhan (1431–59) deposed the abbot Johannes I. Fuchs and took control of the abbey directly. A thorough reform only came under bishop Georg I. von Schaumberg (1459–75), who appointed Eberhard von Venlo (died 1475) as abbot in 1463. He had come with some other monks from the monastery of St. Jakob near Mainz, a member of the
Bursfelde Congregation. Michaelsberg joined this reform movement in 1467. Building activity surged: the guest house was built and the dormitory expanded. Changes were also made to the church. Abbot Andreas Lang (died 1503) had an inventory of all the abbey's possessions created and the abbey flourished under his rule. The abbey once again suffered during the
German Peasants' War of 1525, and during the Franconian
Margrave War (
Markgräflerkrieg) in 1553. A period of recovery followed under abbot Veit I. Finger (died 1585). In the
Thirty Years' War the abbey was occupied for several years by the
Swedish army. In the 17th and 18th centuries the abbey recovered, and enjoyed a new period of prosperity in the early 18th century, notably under abbot Christoph Ernst von Guttenberg (died 1725). He managed to restore the abbey to sound financial health, laying the groundwork for the building that followed. Michaelsberg was in competition with both other abbeys that were being rebuilt in Baroque style (
Langheim Abbey from 1681,
Ebrach Abbey from 1687 and
Banz Abbey from 1697) and the bishop who in 1695 had begun to expand his residence on the opposite hill. The agricultural buildings (
Wirtschaftsgebäude) were added in several waves: after 1696 by
Leonhard Dientzenhofer and from 1708 by his brother
Johann. These significantly increased the size of the abbey and gave it its fortress-like look. Abbot Anselm Geisendorfer came into confrontation with his bishop,
Friedrich Karl von Schönborn and after additional conflict with his monks left the abbey in June 1740. In 1743 he was deposed. However, besides his work on the church (see below), Anselm was able to start a rebuilding of the
Wirtschaftsgebäude, to which
Balthasar Neumann contributed after 1742 and which his successor as abbot, Ludwig Dietz (died 1759), finished in 1744. In terms of construction, Ludwig and his successor, Gallus Brockard (died 1799), mostly focused on the park created on the terraces around the abbey. In the latter half of the 18th century, the financial situation of the abbey had deteriorated significantly as a result of mismanagement, the
Seven Years' War and then the
French Revolutionary Wars. Attempts at reform by the final abbot, Cajetan Rost (died 1804), were cut short by the abbey's dissolution.
Dissolution of the abbey By the time of the
secularisation of Bavaria of 1802 the abbey still owned substantial property in Bamberg itself as well as estates in no fewer than 141 places in the surrounding area. On 30 November 1802 Bavarian troops confiscated the abbey's assets. Valuable books were removed to the library of the Bavarian court, the predecessor of the present
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Even before that seizure, in September 1802, the Bavarian government followed a suggestion by Friedrich Adalbert Marcus, the head of the hospital
Vereinigtes Katharinen- und Elisabethenspital (St. Katharina and St. Elisabeth), to transfer the institution to the hill from the town centre, preventing the abbey buildings from being demolished. On 13 April 1803 the abbey was dissolved. The 21 monks then resident were obliged to leave. In 1808, the hospital became the formal owner of the buildings, but in 1817 the town took over. The abbey still houses the municipal retirement home
Bürgerspital. From 1880 until 2002, facility management of the hospital was assigned to the
Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. ==Description==