ENGLBERG. - Benedictine abbey founded in 1120 in the upper valley of the homonymous Aa, at the foot of the Tilis in the canton of Obwalden (Switzerland), by Baron Corrado of Sellenbürn; the first abbot was Adelmo. Pope Callistus II and Emperor Henry V placed the abbey under their protection (1124); the Bishop of Constance established an independent parish in the valley.
The abbey rose to great renown under the rule of Abbots Brownio (1174–78) and Bertoldo (1178–97), becoming a center of culture with a library rich in illuminated manuscripts. Abbot Enrico I (1197–1223) procured for the monastery, probably from Alsace, a reliquary cross that, together with the ancient statue collection, contained a particle of the Holy Cross. It was destroyed by fire in 1199 and again in 1306; it was devastated by plague in 1548, 1574, and 1583. Under Abbot G. B. Sigrist (1603–19), E. joined the Benedictine Congregation elevated in 1602. After another fire, Abbot E. Crivelli had the church and monastery rebuilt by architect G. Rueff (1730–34). The French occupied the abbey in 1798. The monastery contributed to the founding of Rickenbach (1857) and Melchthal (1860), to missions in the United States at Conception, Missouri (1773), later an abbey in 1881, and Mount Angel (1882, later an abbey in 1904). The buildings of E. were enlarged between 1925–29. Since 1932, the monks of E. have also been in Cameroon, where they direct the major seminary in Yaoundé.
The monastery’s library is rich in 600 manuscripts, including a Bible illuminated by Hugo of Tennach, and over 500,000 volumes; it also contains valuable works of art. The founder Corrado and Abbots Adelmo, Frowino, and Bertoldo enjoy local cult as blesseds, and the relics of the first two are preserved.
ENGLBERG - View of the Abbey. Buildings of the 18th and 20th centuries.
ENGLBERG - The parish priest of Sant'Antonio, in a church of San Marco.
Pietro Bertola, "La chiesa di San Marco," in *Il Quotidiano*, 1, 1, 1923.
ENGLBERG - The parish priest of Sant'Antonio, in a church of San Marco.