Backnang Abbey

The monastery was founded around 1116 by Margrave Hermann II of Verona and Baden and his wife Judith of Backnang on Backnang's castle hill. Pope Paschal I confirmed the foundation in the same year. By 1123, a renewal was necessary with the support of Augustinians from the Marbach monastery in Alsace. From 1123 to 1243, the collegiate church of St. Pancras served as the burial place for the Margraves of Baden, who were related to the Zähringers, which brought wealth and influence to the monastery. Due to its exposed location, the abbey increasingly came under Württemberg influence in the 13th century. In 1235, it became entangled in a feud, during which it was devastated and burned, resulting in the deaths of the provost and numerous canons. Margravine Irmengard subsequently transferred her husband's remains to Lichtental in 1243. Pope Innocent IV placed the abbey under his protection in 1245 and confirmed its extensive possessions. In 1297, Backnang became Württembergian. In 1477, it was converted into a collegiate church. The abbey was dissolved in 1535, but briefly reoccupied in 1551 after a complaint to Emperor Charles V. With the death of the last Catholic canon in 1593, the Augustinian abbey finally ceased to exist. During the Thirty Years' War, Jesuits took over the abbey in 1635 and attempted a re-Catholicization, but had to leave after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. In the War of the Palatine Succession in 1693, Backnang was plundered by French troops and the collegiate church burned down to the choir. The nave was rebuilt in a simplified form by 1697.

The former Backnang Abbey is located in the town of Backnang in the Rems-Murr district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, at an elevation of approximately 269 meters above sea level.

The remnants of Backnang Abbey bear witness to its former significance. The collegiate church, rebuilt after its destruction in the War of the Palatine Succession, stands today as an important architectural monument.

• Backnang Castle (Castle, approx. 66 m away)
• Katharinenhof Castle (Castle, approx. 3778 m away)
• Sturmfeder Castle (Castle, approx. 4655 m away)
• Reichenberg Castle (Castle, approx. 5444 m away)