Hausen Abbey

The foundation of Kloster Hausen took place in 1161 by Count Heinrich von Henneberg, who had previously acquired the location from Eberhard von Bamberg. After its establishment, Heinrich handed over the monastery, dedicated to the Holy Cross, to the Diocese of Würzburg under Prince-Bishop Heinrich II von Stühlingen. It is believed that a monastic school for the education of nuns existed here. The first documented mention of the monastery church dates back to 1250, and in 1272 it was referred to as “ecclesia sanctae crucis”. The monastery held the right of low jurisdiction in the village of Hausen and received a substantial land donation in 1250. As a daughter monastery of Oberzell, it was temporarily subject to visitation by the abbot of Veßra. During the Peasants' Revolt of 1525, Hausen was devastated; the nuns fled to Oberzell, and Abbot Georg von Oberzell rebuilt it. The monastery suffered further destruction during the Second Margrave War (1552/1553) and the Grumbach Feuds (1565). After its last mention as an independent institution in 1553, it came under the administration of the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg in 1581 under Prince-Bishop Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn. Following destruction in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the monastery was rebuilt in 1681 under Peter Philipp von Dernbach. The monastery church was rebuilt under Julius Echter and later decorated by Johann Philipp von Greiffenclau zu Vollraths and Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn.