Altenhohenau Abbey

Altenhohenau Abbey is a Dominican convent in the municipality of Griesstätt in Bavaria, in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. It is located on the Inn River about 7 km upstream from Wasserburg am Inn. The church, designed by Ignaz Günther, is considered one of the most beautiful Rococo churches in Germany. In Altenhohenau, the Dominican sisters ran agriculture and a boarding school (primary and secondary school). Currently (2010), the school premises are leased to an educational institution. Only a few nuns still live in the monastery.

The monastery, dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, was founded in 1235 by Count Konrad von Wasserburg and his wife Kunigunde as a Dominican convent. Dominicans are also documented until 1270. However, it can be considered historically certain that a St. Peter's church already stood in "veteri Hohenawe" (the "venerable Hohenau") before the foundation of the monastery - the city founding document of Wasserburg a.I., dated to 1137, points to a church in "Hohenoue". This is also plausible due to the fact that the salt road from Salzburg and Reichenhall to Munich or Regensburg led here via a ford in the Inn. The dissolution of the monastery during the secularization took place in 1803, but it served as a refuge for the Dominican sisters from the surrounding monasteries. The nuns remained in the monastery until 1822. Later, private individuals acquired the monastery buildings and the church, and many monastery buildings were demolished. In 1881, the brothers Josef and Hubert Soyer from Griesstätt bought the monastery. They recognized the historical value of the place. In 1922, Katharina Soyer, Josef Soyer's widow, sold the church back to the Dominican sisters. They re-established the traditional monastery there in 1926. Today, in addition to the church, the two granaries, the house of the monastery judge, and the residential building and refectory of the monastery are still preserved. The residential building and refectory of the monastery are still owned by the Soyer family today.