Raitenhaslach Abbey

The area for Raitenhaslach Monastery was donated in 1143 by Count Wolfker de Tegerwac (Wolfker von Wasentegernbach) and his wife Hemma. From the original founding site of Schützing on the Alz, the monastery was moved to Raitenhaslach as early as 1146, which had already been mentioned for the first time in a document in 788 in the Notitia Arnonis as property of the Diocese of Salzburg. The main reason for the move to Raitenhaslach is said to have been the strategic monastic policy of Bishop Konrad I of Salzburg. The first monks and Abbot Gero, who headed the young monastery for the first 30 years, came from the Imperial Abbey of Salem, and Salem abbots regularly visited the new monastery. Raitenhaslach is therefore probably the first filiation of Salem Monastery, apart from the "interlude" in Schützing, which lasted only three years. The water-rich location in Raitenhaslach was ideal for the specific cultivation by the Cistercians, including extensive fish farming and various specialized agricultural crops. The Cistercians ate meat-free as pescetarians, so sufficient water supply and the possibility of extensive fish farming were essential. Even today, a number of the fish ponds laid out at that time are preserved in the vicinity of the former monastery. In addition to the cultivation of the immediate surroundings, the land and property quickly grew through donations and purchases. The monastery owned a whole series of tribute-paying villages in the wide vicinity, as well as, among other things, a vineyard in today's Lower Austria and a large part of the Weilhart forest, which is now in Upper Austria, on the other side of the Salzach. In addition, some churches near Altötting and the parishes of Burghausen, Halsbach, Niederbergkirchen, Hadersdorf am Kamp and Ostermiething were incorporated into the monastery. With the strengthening of the Wittelsbach dukes, who resided in the nearby castle of Burghausen, the Salzburg influence was slowly but steadily pushed back from about the middle of the 13th century. The Wittelsbachs began to take on the role of patrons and guardians of the monastery out of power calculations. The monastery was located in the border area between their territory and the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg; even today, the southern adjoining district of Burghausen is called Hadermark, etymologically a compound of Hader and Mark. In 1258, the monastery received the rights of a Hofmark, and thus became increasingly closely tied to the Wittelsbach rule. In the 15th century, the monastery church of St. George also served as a burial place for the ducal family from Burghausen, and at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century, it was especially Ludwig "the Rich" who supported the monastery in the fight against reformatory movements. Over the centuries, the monastery was rebuilt and extended several times. Building activity was particularly lively in the first half of the 18th century, when the monastery church also received its present form for the 600th anniversary of the order and was converted from a Romanesque pillar basilica into a Baroque wall-pillar church. The facade was fronted by the Trostberg master builder Franz Alois Mayr in 1751/1752. The "ideal form" of a Cistercian monastery was preserved despite many extensions and alterations until the beginning of the 19th century. In 1803, the monastery was dissolved in the course of secularization. Since the buildings were completely oversized for private use, the difficulties known from other monasteries arose during the sale by the officials of Minister Montgelas.