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Founded: c. 1040Category: Religious sites in Germany
Historical period: Salian Dynasty (Germany)
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The Holy Cross Abbey in Donauwörth was founded around 1040 by Mangold I von Werd as a Benedictine convent. In the early 12th century the convent moved to the western edge of the city to the highest point insode the city walls. After buildings were damaged during the Thirty Years' War, the abbey church wa rebuilt. In 1770-1780 it was expanded to the Rococo style.
The monastery was dissolved in 1803. The church remained as a parish church. At the beginning of the fifth coalition war (1809) resided Napoléon Bonaparte for several days in the Prelature of the dissolved monastery. The 'Napoleon Room' still exists. In 1935 the Holy Cross Abbey returned to religious use.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.