Buxheim Charterhouse

St. Anne's Chapel, by Dominikus Zimmermann

Choir stalls, St. Anne's Chapel, by Ignaz Waibl

Refectory, with Rococo stucco ceiling

Buxheim Charterhouse (Kloster Buxheim or Reichskartause Buxheim) was formerly a monastery of the Carthusians (in fact, the largest charterhouse in Germany) and is now a monastery of the Salesians. It is situated in Buxheim near Memmingen in Bavaria.

History

The estate of Buxheim belonged from the mid-10th century to the chapter of Augsburg Cathedral, who in about 1100 founded a house of canons here, dedicated to Our Dear Lady.

In 1402 however, after a long period of decline, in an extreme move to preserve it the then provost, Heinrich von Ellerbach, gave the establishment to the Carthusians, a move which proved extremely successful in reviving Buxheim both spiritually and economically. Its wealth however drew the hostile attentions of the nearby city of Memmingen, which occupied it in 1546 during the Reformation, and impounded its property. Prior Dietrich Loher was able however by skilful diplomacy to obtain the favour of Emperor Charles V, and in 1548 the monastery was declared reichsfrei, and thus independent of all territorial authority save that of the Emperor himself, under whose protection it stood; it was the only charterhouse (Reichskartause) in Germany ever to be granted that status.

It was dissolved in the secularisation of 1802, when ownership passed first to the Counts of Ostein, who allowed the community to remain, and then in 1809 by inheritance to the Counts Waldbott von Bassenheim, who from 1812 used the premises as a castle. In 1916 the state took over the buildings, which in 1926 were acquired by the Salesians.

Buildings

Parts of the monastery buildings were refurbished by Dominikus Zimmermann in the Rococo style: the monastic church, St. Anne's chapel in the cloisters, and also the nearby parish church. As a masterpiece of Baroque carving, the almost entirely complete choir stalls in the chapel with their rich ornament and figurative decoration, created between 1687 and 1691 by the Tyrolean sculptor and woodcarver Ignaz Waibl, are of international significance.

External links

• (German) Klöster in Bayern: Buxheim

uk:Буксхайм (монастир)