WEINGARTEN. — Benedictine abbey in Württemberg. It is the ancient “Monasterium Vinearum” or “ad Vineas, prope Altdeffium.”
It was founded in 934 by Count Enrico, father of s. Corrado of Costanza, as a convent for women; it was destroyed by fire in 1053. Guelfo IV had the new monastery built, which passed to the Benedictines in 1057. After the buildings and the church were ruined in 1124, they were rebuilt in 1182, and a Romanesque basilica was constructed. The abbey received privileges from popes and kings. Among its abbots are remembered Corrado II of Ibach (1315–36), Giovanni II Blarer (1418–51), Giorgio Wegelin (1587–1627), regarded as the second founder of W., Sebastiano Hyller (1697–1730), who renovated the church, and Domenico II Schmitzer (1745–1802). Its library of 800 manuscripts and more than 20,000 volumes was valuable. The monastic buildings were used as a barracks from 1868 to 1919. In 1922 the abbey of S. Tommaso of Erdington settled there.
The buildings date from the eighteenth century and are the work of D. G. Frisoni and F. Beer. The church is Baroque, with frescoes by G. D. Asam, stucco work by Fr. Schmutzer, and decorations by Carlone, Frisoni, and Corbellini; the artistic choir stalls are by J. A. Feichtmayer. It is a destination for pilgrimages because of the relic of the Precious Blood, especially on the Friday after the Ascension.
BIRL.: Catalog. Abbatum, in MGH, Script., XV, II, pp. 1312–1314; Notae, ibid., XXIV, pp. 830–83; Kl. Löffler, Die Handschriften des Klosters W., Weingarten 1912; R. Weser, Die Heilgeburt-Reliquiere in W. und Weissenau, in Archiv. für christliche Kunst, 1920–21, pp. 17–23; A. Schlegel, Die benediktiner Kirche z. W., Weingarten 1924; Cottineau, II, cols. 3437–39; A. Schmitt, Die Ben.-Abtei W., Weingarten 1924; E. König, Die süddeutschen Welfen als Klostergründer, there 1934. On the privileges: W. Krallert, in Archiv. für Urkundenforschung, 15 (1938), pp. 235–304. On the Baroque church: J. H. Drissen, Die Barocharchitektur der Abtei W., Weingarten 1928. Enrico Josi