MEDINGEN (MÖDINGEN). – A medieval Dominican convent in the diocese of Augsburg; since 1843 it has belonged to the Franciscans of Dillingen.
A quarter of an hour’s distance from M. stands the convent of Maria M., which has existed since 1239 and was enriched with a new building in 1246 by Count Artmann IV of Dillingen. Subject to the Dominican provincials of Germany, it had as patrons the bishops of Augsburg, the dukes of Bavaria and of Pfalz-Neuburg. In 1260, with a community of 70 nuns, it founded a convent at Obermedlingen. KLEE, HEINRICH (v.) von Nördlingen made M. a centre of the Friends of God and directed the blessed Margaret Ebner (d. 1351).
It was reformed in 1468 in the observant observance; but in 1546 the convent succumbed to the Protestants. Restored in 1616, the church was enlarged (1716–18) and the chapel of the blessed Ebner (1755), a jewel of rococo, was built. The community was secularized in 1802–1803. The Franciscans of Dillingen devote themselves to the education of young women and to the cult of the blessed Ebner.