Schwarzach Abbey

The Münster Schwarzach in the Schwarzach district of the municipality of Rheinmünster is the former monastery church of St. Peter and Paul of the former Benedictine abbey of Schwarzach, which was first mentioned in a document in 826. The Münster in Schwarzach is not to be confused with the Benedictine abbey of Münsterschwarzach in Bavaria.

In the Pirminsvita, written at the end of the 9th century, Suarzaha (Schwarzach) is mentioned as a foundation of Pirmin. The monastery is first mentioned in a document in 826.

It cannot be definitively determined when the village of Schwarzach developed around the monastery. When the Benedictines founded the monastery on the Schwarze Ache, Schwarzach did not yet exist.

In 1032, King Conrad II granted the monastery as a fief to the bishops of Speyer, who financially exploited the monastery. Only Henry IV released the monastery from its feudal dependence on Speyer. In the 13th century, the abbey had to contend with its vogts, especially the Knights of Windeck. The further territorial assignment of the monastery is difficult. The monastery complained for centuries against the sovereign rights derived by the Margraves of Baden from their protective rule over the monastery, which had existed since 1422. A lawsuit before the Imperial Chamber Court in Wetzlar was not decided until the end of the monastery. The monastery suffered destruction during the Peasants' War in 1525 and the Thirty Years' War. In 1653, the relics of Saint Rufina were transferred to Schwarzach, which led to a revival of monastic life. The monastery was also damaged in the War of the Palatine Succession in 1688–1697, but was splendidly renewed in Baroque style around 1724/32 according to plans by Peter Thumb. In 1802/03, secularization ended the existence of Schwarzach monastery; Baden took over its property and building complex. Of the former monastery complex, only the church and some administrative and economic buildings with the monastery portal from 1761 to 1790 remain.