Altomünster Abbey

The origins of the monastery date back to before 760, when the Irish monk Alto founded a hermitage here. Around 970, a Benedictine monastery, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, was renewed by the Welfs on this site. In 1056, Benedictine nuns from the burnt-down Altdorf Monastery moved to Altomünster. From 1488, the monastery developed into a double monastery when the Order of the Most Holy Saviour, founded by Saint Birgitta of Sweden, moved in. The monastery church was then dedicated to Saints Alto and Birgitta. In the 16th century, under Prior Johannes Palgmacher and Abbess Ottilia Öffler, resistance against the Reformation solidified. The Thirty Years' War brought great hardship to the monastery. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the monastery experienced a phase of Baroque piety. The current monastery church was rebuilt between 1763 and 1766 by Johann Michael Fischer in the late Rococo style. In the course of secularization, Altomünster Monastery was dissolved in 1803. Although the nuns were allowed to remain in their buildings, the monastery lost its property and library. King Ludwig I enabled the re-admission of novices in 1841, leading to a new period of flourishing.

Altomünster Monastery is located in the Bavarian municipality of Altomünster in the Dachau district, at an altitude of approximately 528 meters above sea level.

The monastery church of St. Alto and St. Birgitta is known today for its architecture by Johann Michael Fischer. The complex served as a double monastery for centuries, housing nuns as well as priests and brothers.

• Former monastery garden (approx. 65 m away)
• Former monastery barn (approx. 68 m away)
• Monastery wings (approx. 71 m away)