A monastery of the
Benedictines was established at this location in the 8th century, dedicated to
St. Michael. During the second half of the 10th century, this was transformed into the
Kollegiatstift St. Peter und Alexander, a
collegiate church. In 974, the
Stift was first mentioned in a document by Emperor
Otto II in which he gifted his churches at Salz and Brendlorenzen (near
Neustadt/Saale) as well as several other territories, including a sizeable area of the
Spessart hills to the
Stift. This was intended as a favour to his nephew,
Otto I, Duke of Swabia and Bavaria. This Otto was long regarded as the founder of the
Stift, which is why he is honoured by a statue in the church. The real founders were Otto's parents,
Liudolf, a son of Emperor
Otto I and Ida, daughter of Duke
Hermann of Swabia. The most likely date is the year 957. Liudolf died that same year during a campaign in Italy and was later buried at Mainz. Thus his role as a founder of the Aschaffenburg
Stift was forgotten. His son Otto died from an epidemic in
Lucca in 982 but was buried at Aschaffenburg by Archbishop
Willigis of Mainz. His tomb was next to that of
Liutgard (died 885), the widow of
King Ludwig III. During
secularization the
Stift was dissolved at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1821, the region became part of the
Diocese of Würzburg and the collegiate church was made a parish church. Until this point, the
Stift had supplied the priests for the other Aschaffenburg churches,
St. Agatha and
Unsere liebe Frau. The church was damaged by
Allied bombing in World War II, but most of the works of art survived. In 1956, anthropologists from the
University of Mainz opened the 13th-century sarcophagi and confirmed that they indeed held the remains of Otto I, Liutgard and her daughter Hildegard. In 1957, the church and its associated buildings were transferred to the
Kirchenstiftung Sankt Peter und Alexander, a foundation. In 1958, celebrating its 1,000th anniversary,
Pope Pius XII made the church a
Basilica minor. ==Description==