Raitenhaslach Abbey

In 2003, the city of Burghausen, which had been speculating on it for many years, auctioned off the former monastery buildings. The brewing operation, documented since 1286, was finally discontinued – the brewing process itself had not taken place in Raitenhaslach for some time. In 2004, the traditional monastery inn was acquired by a private entrepreneur. Today, in addition to the well-known monastery church, a Baroque jewel with a Romanesque core, the so-called "Pope's Room" and especially the "Stone Hall" of the former monastery are of great scientific and tourist interest. Since the buildings are now in public ownership, visits to these parts of the building are possible for the first time since privatization over 200 years ago. However, unlike the church, there are no fixed opening hours for the monastery buildings.

The Technical University of Munich will establish its "TUM Study and Residence Center" in the monastery in the coming years. For this purpose, the monastery is currently being renovated.

Picture gallery of the monastery church

Raitenhaslach Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey, now located in the municipality of Burghausen and the Diocese of Passau. After the demolition of large parts of the buildings during the secularization in 1803, the monastery today comprises less than half of its former building stock.

The area for Raitenhaslach Abbey was donated in 1143 by Count Wolfker de Tegerwac (Wolfker von Wasentegernbach) and his wife Hemma. From its original founding site in 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 reason for the move to Raitenhaslach is said to have been primarily the strategic monastic policy of Bishop Konrad I of Salzburg. The first monks and Abbot Gero, who led 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 Abbey, 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 wider area, as well as a vineyard in what is now Lower Austria and a large part of the Weilhart forest, now in Upper Austria, on the other side of the Salzach. Furthermore, several churches near Altötting and the parishes of Burghausen, Halsbach, Niederbergkirchen, Hadersdorf am Kamp and Ostermiething were incorporated into the monastery.

With the rise of the Wittelsbach dukes, who resided in the nearby castle in Burghausen, Salzburg's influence was slowly but steadily pushed back from about the middle of the 13th century. The Wittelsbachs, for reasons of power, began to assume the role of patrons and guardians of the monastery. The monastery was located in the border area between their territory and the Archdiocese of Salzburg; even today, the southern adjoining part 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 Wittelsbach rule. In the 15th century, the monastery church also served as a burial place for the ducal family from Burghausen, and at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries, it was particularly Ludwig "the Rich" who supported the monastery in the fight against reformatory movements.

Over the centuries, the monastery was rebuilt and expanded several times. Construction 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 "ideal form" of a Cistercian monastery was preserved despite many extensions and alterations until the beginning of the 19th century.

In 1803, Raitenhaslach Abbey was dissolved during the secularization. However, since the buildings were completely oversized for private use, the sale by the officials of Minister Montgelas encountered difficulties also known from other monasteries. After a long search and several price reductions, only the lucrative parts of the monastery, such as the brewery, could be sold, and the majority of the buildings were demolished: the monastery church, as well as the still relatively new library building from 1785, the refectory, and the so-called Mathematical Tower disappeared. The remaining monastery buildings, along with most of the immense inventory, were sold to the highest bidders. The book collection, which was extremely valuable not only from today's perspective, was sold to waste paper dealers by the kilogram, with a few exceptions, furniture and art objects to wealthy citizens and the nobility, and agricultural equipment to local farmers. The monastery church became a parish church in 1806. The remaining monastery buildings have since served as a rectory, school, brewery, inn, and private residences.

In 1978, parts of the Raitenhaslach municipal area, including the former monastery, were incorporated into the city of Burghausen as part of the municipal territorial reform.

In 2003, the city of Burghausen, which had been speculating on it for many years, auctioned off the former monastery buildings. The brewing operation, documented since 1286, was finally discontinued – the brewing process itself had not taken place in Raitenhaslach for some time. In 2004, the traditional monastery inn was acquired by a private entrepreneur. Today, in addition to the well-known monastery church, a Baroque jewel with a Romanesque core, the so-called "Pope's Room" and especially the "Stone Hall" of the former monastery are of great scientific and tourist interest. Since the buildings are now in public ownership, visits to these parts of the building are possible for the first time since privatization over 200 years ago. However, unlike the church, there are no fixed opening hours for the monastery buildings.

The Technical University of Munich will establish its "TUM Study and Residence Center" in the monastery in the coming years. For this purpose, the monastery is currently being renovated.