Herbrechtingen Abbey

Herbrechtingen Monastery was founded in 774 by Abbot Fulrad of Saint-Denis, to whom Charlemagne transferred the villa Herbrechtingen. Fulrad dedicated the parish church built there to Saint Dionysius and incorporated the Herbrechtingen cell into his abbey of Saint-Denis in 777. In 1046, during a visit by King Henry III, the cell foundation was converted into a collegiate church. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa transferred the collegiate church to Augustinian canons from Hördt Monastery in 1171, endowed it with privileges, and granted it market rights. The reconstruction of the convent in Staufer ashlar masonry probably also began during this period. The collegiate church was plundered by people from Giengen in 1279, and another looting of the monastery and village occurred in 1449. A provost's building was newly constructed in 1472. Around 1520, monastic discipline declined, and attempts at reform remained unsuccessful. Duke Ulrich of Württemberg closed the monastery in 1552 and converted it into an evangelical monastic office. After renovations in 1563, Herbrechtingen was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War.