Michaelsberg Abbey, Siegburg

[1] Archbishop Anno was canonized in the abbey church on 29 April 1183 by Cardinal Giovanni Conti da Anagni and Bishop Pietro of Luni, acting as papal legates of Pope Lucius III.

The community had developed a luxurious lifestyle, one which was so open that they were publicly criticized by a nearby Cistercian abbey.

The buildings were almost completely destroyed by a bombing raid in 1944, although they were in use as a military hospital and flying the flag of the Red Cross.

In 1945 the monks who had been expelled four years previously were finally able to return, some from captivity as prisoners of war, others from exile.

The financial situation was uncertain and in December 2010 the community voted to close the abbey, effective the following June.

It was announced in 2012 by the Archdiocese that six friars of the Indian province of the Discalced Carmelites would open a priory in a part of the former abbey after renovation of the building.

Ecclesiastical states of the Holy Roman Empire, 1648
Ecclesiastical states of the Holy Roman Empire, 1648