Lindau, Convent of
LINDAU, CONVENT OF
Founded by Count Adalbert of Raetia (Tirol) c. 817 for Benedictine nuns. The convent, also known as St. Marien, was generously endowed with lands, privileges, and immunities. In 948 it was destroyed by fire but was rebuilt. The convent enjoyed a spiritual growth in the 11th century and adopted the rule of St. augustine in the 12th. A hospital was founded at Lindau sometime before 1237. Around 1470 the abbess of the convent was granted the title "Princess of the Realm." There were, however, jurisdictional disputes between the convent and the city of Lindau that lasted into the 18th century. Despite considerable pressure from the Lindau governors, who had embraced Protestantism, the convent persevered in the old faith. On Sept. 16, 1728, its buildings were once again leveled by fire. Although the convent was secularized in 1805, the convent church, rebuilt during the years 1748 to 1852, has served Lindau's Catholic parish since 1813.
Bibliography: Liber anniversariorum monasterii Lindaugiensis, Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Necrologia (Berlin 1826–) 1:179–197. k. wolfart, Kurze Geschichte der Reformation in Lindau, Aeschach, und Reutin (Lindau 1917); ed., Geschichte der Stadt Lindau am Bodensee, 2 v. in 3 (Lindau 1909). a. horn, Die Kunstdenkmäler von Schwaben: Stadt und Landkreis Lindau (Munich 1954).
[d. andreini]