Gutenzell Abbey, Cistercian monastery in Gutenzell-Hürbel, Germany
Gutenzell Abbey is a former Cistercian nunnery in Gutenzell-Hürbel, Baden-Württemberg. Its church, dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian, has 12th-century wall traces and was rebuilt in Baroque style in 1755–56 under abbess Maria Franziska von Gall, with stucco by Franz Xaver Feuchtmayer the Elder and frescoes by Johann Georg Dieffenbrunner. The pulpit (1756) is by Stephan Luidl, who also made the high altar in 1762. Most convent buildings were demolished in 1864.
The monastery was founded in 1237 by noble women of the Aichheim family and received papal confirmation from Pope Gregory IX in 1238. This early recognition established it as an important religious center in the region.
The former abbey church, dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian, became the parish church of Gutenzell in 1474. Its present appearance results from a Baroque remodelling in 1755–56, with stucco by Franz Xaver Feuchtmayer the Elder and frescoes by Johann Georg Dieffenbrunner. The church is now part of the Upper Swabian Baroque Route.
The convent buildings were largely demolished in 1864, so what remains is the former abbey church of St. Cosmas and Damian, now the parish church of Gutenzell. It is a medieval structure reworked in Baroque style in 1755–56, with frescoes by Johann Georg Dieffenbrunner and a 1756 pulpit by Stephan Luidl. The church is part of the Upper Swabian Baroque Route.
In 1685 the abbey gained the right of high justice, and by 1800 it held the village of Gutenzell plus parts of Achstetten, Kirchberg and Oberholzheim, with 1189 subjects in all. The last abbess, Maria Justina von Erolzheim, died in 1809; the final nun died in 1851.
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