Obermedlingen Abbey

Obermedlingen Monastery is a former monastery in Medlingen, Bavaria, in the Diocese of Augsburg. In 1251, the ministerialis Walter II von Faimingen provided property for a small monastery, into which 15 nuns moved in 1260. The monastery was finally assigned to the German province of the Dominican Order in 1263. The parish of Obermedlingen was incorporated into Obermedlingen Monastery in 1266, and the parish of Untermedlingen in 1337.

In 1462, Obermedlingen and the monastery were severely affected during the Bavarian War in the Battle of Giengen (Giengen an der Brenz).

Following Martin Luther's posting of the theses in 1517, a crisis arose in Obermedlingen Monastery. In 1544, Duke Ottheinrich of Pfalz-Neuburg appointed a Protestant preacher, to whom the 20 Catholic Dominican nuns in the monastery were also subordinate. In the following year, the monastery church burned down during the Schmalkaldic War, probably due to arson. In 1546, the Dominican nuns were held captive for several months in Lauingen Castle on Ottheinrich's orders.

The Untermedlingen branch was subsequently Protestant from 1552 to 1614. In 1555, Obermedlingen Monastery was finally dissolved after the Peace of Augsburg, and its assets were confiscated.

The monastic establishment of Obermedlingen, previously belonging to the Dominican nuns, was transferred to the Dominicans in 1651 and converted into a male convent. In 1663, despite protests from the city of Gundelfingen, the friars established a brewery and built a small church between 1666 and 1672. In 1678, the monastery was elevated to a priory.

In 1804, the convent was dissolved, and two electoral commissioners confiscated the monastery's assets; some of the monastery buildings were demolished. In the following year, Obermedlingen served as the main camp for the French before their battle at Elchingen.

In 1923, the "Oblates of the Immaculate Virgin Mary" moved into the remaining monastery buildings and opened a six-grade Progymnasium in 1925. 100 to 150 students from Swabia, Upper Franconia, and Saarland soon attended the school and boarding house. The mission school was closed in 1940, after which resettlers from Bukovina were accommodated, and a reserve hospital was established.

After the Second World War, the monastery became a district refugee camp (1946–1951). Afterwards, the mission school moved back into the monastery and remained there until 1970.

Obermedlingen Monastery was renovated in 1985 and 1987, after which the "Tepl Premonstratensian Abbey" moved in. In 1996, the last Premonstratensian left the monastery, and since then, the Marian Fathers religious community has been represented in the Obermedlingen monastery.

A local electronics company acquired the buildings of the mission school, and the former refectory of the monastery is used by local associations and the community.