page_title: Günterstal Abbey
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Günterstal Abbey / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Maria Franziska Cajetana von Zurthannen, Äbtissin des Zisterzienserinnenklosters Günterstal
context_page_description: Günterstal Abbey, earlier also Güntersthal Abbey, was a Cistercian nunnery that existed from 1221 to 1806 located in Günterstal, which today is a district in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
context_section_description: The first documented reference to Günterstal Abbey is dated 15 September 1224, when Konrad von Tegerfelden, Bishop of Constance, inaugurated a new altar in the chapel of the as yet unfinished nunnery. In later writings, the abbey gives its year of foundation as 1221. A nobleman of the nearby Burg Kybfelsen is said to have founded the abbey for his daughters Adelheid and Berta, who were joined by other women seeking to live in a monastic community. Early on the new foundation came into contact with Tennenbach Abbey, a Cistercian monastery. It is presumed that Günterstal's admission to the Cistercian Order took place soon after 1224. The abbot of Tennenbach was ex officio also the supervising abbot (German: Weisungsabt; Latin: pater immediatus) of Günterstal until circa 1380. As such, he oversaw its administration, conducted visitations, and was responsible for the appointment of the abbess and her inauguration.
  In 1233, Pope Gregory IX confirmed the possessions of the nunnery. In 1238 the community moved to Oberried, only to be relocated back to Günterstal six years later. In 1246, Pope Innocent IV confirmed its possessions again, which had grown in the meantime through gifts and donations. Among the most important gifts was the Günterstaler Dinghof (a farm) which St Peter's Abbey had exchanged for a farm in Scherzingen. A property register from 1344 shows that the nunnery owned property in up to 90 locations including an estate in Mundenhof which is now the animal sanctuary and park. At this time the village of Günterstal consisted of twenty-five houses. The nobility of the region, such as the Küchlin, Geben and Schnewlin families, made frequent gifts to the abbey: their unmarried daughters who wanted to enter it had to give all of their possessions to it, unlike a Damenstift (community of secular canonesses). The abbesses sat in the Landstände of Further Austria.  The abbey chose its Vögte from the local nobility which supported it (for example, the families of Schnewlin, Falkenstein and Blumegg).
  The residents of the abbey consisted on the one hand of the nuns, from the nobility,  and on the other, lay sisters and servants. The chaplain and the confessor were provided by Tennenbach Abbey. The nunnery was also involved in reclaiming land by clearing forests. As early as 1278 the need for bigger premises became apparent. In 1279 the first abbess, Adelheid (d. 1281), resigned from her position.
  In 1486 the abbey was damaged by a flood. In times of war it was plundered several times. During the Peasants' War in May 1525, Abbess Agnes von Tusslingen fled to Freiburg where she later died. The abbey was plundered by the peasants and later claimed compensation of 2,218 gulden. In 1632, the nuns escaped the Swedish army by the skin of their teeth by fleeing to Rheinau Abbey.
  In 1674, under Abbess Agnes von Greuth, the abbey released its serfs from their serfdom. After improvement in the abbey's financial situation it was decided in 1727, under Abbess Maria Rosa von Neveu, to replace the old conventual building with a new one. Between 1728 and 1748, under Abbess Maria Franziska Cajetanna von Zurthannen, completely new Baroque premises were constructed according to designs by Peter Thumb.
caption: Abbess Maria Franziska Cajetana von Zurthannen
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