Oberschönenfeld Abbey

The origins of the monastery date back to the late 12th century, when Beguines settled near Oberschönenfeld around 1186. This community of women was initially led by mistresses, including Countess Würga and Hildegunde von Brennberg. The latter was elected the first abbess of the newly founded abbey in 1211, established with the support of Kaisheim Abbey. A papal confirmation of the order's privileges followed in 1248, and the first church was consecrated in 1262. During the Thirty Years' War, the monastery suffered looting and destruction between 1632 and 1648, forcing the convent to flee. Between 1718 and 1721, the complex was rebuilt in Baroque style under master builder Franz Beer, including the Abbey Church of Mariae Himmelfahrt. Despite internal consolidation and the introduction of a police ordinance in 1667, the monastery was denied imperial immediacy until 1803 and remained under the territorial sovereignty of the Bishops of Augsburg.