Tegernsee Abbey

On account of the disorders caused by the incursions of the Magyars at the beginning of the tenth century the founding of Tegernsee itself and the first decades of its history are hidden in deep obscurity.

Pippin, fearing the revenge of such a powerful family, he summoned Otkar and Adalbert before they could hear of the killing, and asked them for their advice: "How would you deal with a terrible evil if there were no way to change it?"

They returned to their homeland in the south of Bavaria and founded a monastery on an unusually beautiful site by the shores of the Tegernsee, into which they withdrew.

For many centuries a large panel in the nearby church of Egern depicted the scene of the princes playing chess.

The community was greatly weakened by Hungarian raids and by repeated attempts at secularisation during the reign of Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria (907-937).

Besieged by frequent Hungarian raids and desperate to raise funds to finance a re-organized defense, Arnulf strengthened his power through confiscation of church lands and the secularization of numerous monastery estates.

A charter of 10 June, 979 contains a grant from the emperor of the right of free election of the abbot, as well as freedom from taxes and the imperial protection, by which the abbey was withdrawn from the suzerainty of the rulers of Bavaria.

Glass works were established at Tegernsee to make stained-glass windows for Bishop Gottschalk of Freising.

[5] The shape of the future was made plain with the appointment of Abbot Manegold of Berg, son of the Count of Berg, to this Bavarian abbey in 1189, as the result of political intrigue by the Counts of Andechs, Vögte (lords protectors) of Tegernsee, and Bishop Otto of Freising.

Over the next decades, with the support of the Papal Legate Cardinal Nikolaus von Kues, it became a focus of the Reforms of Melk Abbey, which opened Benedictine houses hitherto restricted to the nobility to a wider range of social classes.

In 1455, monks of Tegernsee settled Andechs Abbey and were appointed abbots at Benediktbeuern, Oberalteich, Wessobrunn and others.

During the abbacy of Abbot Benedikt Schwarz (to 1787), the first signs began to show of the secularisation which eventually took place on 17 March 1803, thus bringing the abbey to an end.

Known since then as Schloss Tegernsee, it is still the property of that family, the present owner is Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria.

[6] The brewery is owned by Duchess Maria Anna Henriette Gabrielle Julie in Bavaria, youngest daughter of the duke.