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Founded: 1004-1009Category: Religious sites in Germany
Historical period: Ottonian Dynasty (Germany)
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Henry V, Duke of Bavaria and his wife Luitgard erected a collegiate abbey of Augustinian Canons in his palace in Osterhofen in 1004–09. In 1017 the Emperor Henry II of Germany transferred the abbey to the diocese of Bamberg. In 1128 Bishop Otto of Bamberg brought men and women from the Premonstratensian Ursberg Abbey to the Osterhofen collegiate abbey.The abbey was endowed with extensive properties in the Wachau valley of Austria. The female branch of the abbey was probably extinct after 1200. In 1288 the head of the abbey become a provost. In 1414 the abbot was granted the right to wear the miter in liturgical celebrations.
1748 J.G. Käser painting of fighting between Deggendorf and Vilshofen during the War of the Austrian SuccessionThrough its history, the monastery and the town had a checkered history, suffering damage from warfare and fire. There was a fire in the monastery in 1512. In 1701 a major fire caused by lightening destroyed the monastery. It was rebuilt in 1717–27. The former Gothic church also suffered great damage, and in 1726 it was decided to erect a new building. The fantastically ornamented monastery church was designed and built in 1726–40.
In 1783 the monastery was dissolved by the Bavarian state. Maria Anna Sophia, the widow of the Elector of Bavaria, wished to give the noble-born nuns of the convent of Saint Anne in Munich a better endowment. The Pope agreed to assign the monastery and its properties to the sisters. The last of the Premonstratensians remained in the building until 1800. The church became the parish church in 1818. The convent sold the monastery building to the state in 1833.
In 1858 the Sisters of Loreto moved into the building and founded a girls' secondary school. In 1859 it was designated a school for middle class girls to learn housework, and from 1859 to 1873 as an institute for neglected children. In 1886 it became a college of education. Care of small children began in 1901. The school started accepting day pupils in 1913. A dilapidated part of the abbey's west wing was demolished in 1938. In 1942 the school was temporarily closed, opening again in 1946.
The monastery church, built in colored stucco and marble, is one of the most lavishly decorated in Lower Bavaria. It was designed and built between 1726 and 1740 by the Munich architect and master-builder Johann Michael Fischer (1727–28) and the brothers Cosmas Damian Asam and Egid Quirin Asam. The nave is large, bright and spacious, with a 22 metres high ceiling. The Asam brothers created a throne room in honor of God. Cosmas Damian Asam, a brilliant painter, created the wonderful frescoes in the church. His brother Egid Quirin Asam filled the church interior with sculptures and ornaments, notably the impressive high altar. The altarpiece represents Saint Margaret set within a pagan environment, with a statue of Venus in a temple behind her. The church is considered a masterpiece of late baroque Bavarian church architecture. In 1983 the church became the Minor Basilica of St. Margaret, known as the Asambasilika.
References:The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.