Welden Abbey

Welden Monastery is a former monastery of the Franciscan Observant Tertiaries in Welden, Bavaria, in the Diocese of Augsburg.

The monastery, dedicated to Saint Mary, was founded in 1571 by Konrad von Welden. The Tertiaries of the Franciscan Order from Weiler near Blaubeuren had been expelled from there in 1570 and were resettled here. In 1632, the monastery was plundered by Swedish soldiers; the first Tertiaries returned to Welden in 1636. The monastery, then located in Further Austria, was secularized in 1782 by an edict of Emperor Joseph II. The main buildings have disappeared; two smaller buildings remained and are used as private residences. The monastery was located directly next to the parish church in the center of the village. The church simultaneously served as the monastery church, and an additional chapel was built on the monastery grounds.

The current Carmelite monastery on Theklaberg was only founded in 1931, and therefore has no direct connection with the former monastery in the village center. The votive church of St. Thekla was also only rededicated as a monastery church at that time.