Neunkirchen Abbey

The Neunkirchen am Brand Monastery is a former monastery of the Augustinian Canons in Neunkirchen am Brand in the Diocese of Bamberg.

The monastery, dedicated to St. Michael, was founded in 1313 by Leopold von Hirschberg, scholastic at the collegiate church of St. Gangolph in Bamberg. In 1555, the prince-bishop's court chamber confiscated the monastery after the last canons had left the monastery following the Reformation. From 1642, the monastery estates were used for the upkeep of the Bamberg seminary. In contrast to other monasteries in the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg, however, the foundation was not dissolved. In 1803, Neunkirchen, along with the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg, fell to Bavaria. The church and monastery buildings were preserved. The monastery church of St. Michael is now the center of the Catholic parish. The administrative building, designed by Balthasar Neumann, serves social institutions. Most of the other preserved monastery buildings are used by the market town of Neunkirchen am Brand.