Schussenried Abbey, Premonstratensian monastery in Bad Schussenried, Germany.

Schussenried Abbey is a Premonstratensian monastery in Bad Schussenried, a small town in Upper Swabia in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The complex brings together a Baroque church, a two-story library, and several monastic buildings arranged around a shared courtyard.

Two brothers, Berengar and Konrad von Schussenried, donated their castle, mills, parish church and coat of arms to the Premonstratensian Order in 1183, and a provost with twelve canons arrived from Weissenau. The general chapter raised Schussenried to the rank of abbey in 1440, and Emperor Frederick III freed it from outside courts in 1487. Swedish troops under Carl Gustaf Wrangel burned the monastery in 1647, sparing only the library, entrance hall and church nave; rebuilding was finished in 1660.

The two-story library at the heart of the abbey is considered one of the finest in southern Germany and can still be visited today. The carved wooden shelves and the ceiling paintings above them give a strong sense of how learning and faith were intertwined in monastic life.

The abbey sits along the Upper Swabian Baroque Route and is easy to reach on foot from the center of Bad Schussenried. Visitors should plan for enough time to see both the church and the library separately, as each has its own entrance.

The abbey's coat of arms, a crowned lion on a silver field, came from the founding brothers Konrad and Beringer von Schussenried, who gave their family crest along with their castle, two mills and a parish church in 1183. The same year a provost named Friedrich arrived from Weissenau Abbey with twelve canons.