Andechs Monastery Tour

View of the Alps from Andechs

Andechs Bell Tower

Near our house is Andechs Monastery. We love visiting the church and the biergarten. The monks here have been brewing beer for a long time, as in 700+ years long. It is located on top of a hill called the Holy Mountain and houses holy relics that were brought here in the 10th century.

Today Steve's mom and I and some of my new Munich friends attended a guided tour of the church as well as a viewing of the reliquaries that house the holy relics. We had a glorious, sunshine-filled day. We couldn't have hoped for nicer weather in February. If you want to only read about the relics skip to the end. I have included most of the history of the monastery the guide shared with us here. I want to remember it to share with future visitors and hopefully I've gotten most of it correct.

Balcony used by the monks

The first holy relics came to Andechs around 1177 as a present to the Count of Andechs. During this time people would make pilgrimages to the Holy Mountain to see the relics. They weren't allowed in the chapel but the monks would take them out on this balcony for the people to view.

The Andech family at one point was very powerful, but unfortunately for them their line ended in 1248 when Count Otto died without children and their castle was destroyed. Knowing that the Wittelbach family would take over Andechs he hid the holy relics before he died. Sneaky, right? They were "lost" for approximately 150 years and the pilgrimages ended.

St Elizabeth's wedding dress

Box where the relics were found

I love the legend of how the the relics were found. Supposedly during mass in what was the former chapel of the castle, a mouse pulled a piece of paper out into the chapel. It was realized that this was a part of the list of the relics. The altar was excavated and the relics were found in a box wrapped in the wedding dress of St. Elizabeth. The dress is made from the coronation robes of her mother, Gertrude, Queen of Hungary. The pilgrimages began again. This is of course great; however, my favorite part of the story is at some point when the church was being updated a little hole was left under the altar and a small mouse was placed there. "Find the mouse" will be what we play with little kids who visit while their parents explore the church.

Can you see the mouse?

During the 1400s the Gothic hall church was built. The monastery was established by Albrecht III in honor of his first wife. Agnes had been drowned after being declared a witch. And the "I cannot make this stuff up" legend says that Albrecht's father didn't like that Agnes was not a noble so he sent his son on a hunting trip so he could make this happen. Treacherous times.

In 1669 the church was almost completely destroyed when the bell tower was struck by lightening. The monks saved as much as they could from the resulting fire. The relics were protected within the Holy Chapel. This was lucky because the Holy Chapel is locked by three keys, even today. However in 1669 only two keys were at the monastery. The third key was kept in Munich by the Wittelbach family in order for them to have complete control of access to the relics.

The church was of course rebuilt and in 1755 was decorated in the rococo style and given new furnishings. This is what the church looks like today. Of course it hasn't been like this since 1755 though because in 1803 secularization came to Germany and monastic life was forbidden. However, the pilgrimages were still allowed because of the financial importance. (nice)  Eventually King Ludwig I bought the monastery to support his Benedictine monastery in Munich. They needed the farmland and the brewery space.

Holy Chapel door

Relics

This whole story led us to the relics. Steve and I had tried to find the relics on two previous visits. Now I know why we failed. The relics are only viewable through a tour. The staircase to the chapel is behind a locked door in the church. Then you go up a flight of stairs past paintings that are hundreds of years old that were given to the church by people who felt praying to the patron saints had saved them from something horrible. The paintings depict their dire situations. Once upstairs the three keys for the Holy Chapel door have to be unlocked from a safe and then used to open the door. The door then has to be secured open so it doesn't close while you are inside. The keys used to open the doors and safe are all of the old-fashioned, giant, heavy metal key type. Very authentic.

The most famous of the holy relics are a thorn from the crown of Jesus, the victory cross of Charlemagne and the most important items, the three Holy Host-Wafers. These are Eucharists that had symbols of Jesus appear on them in blood. The relics themselves are all in reliquaries. So you can't actually see them, you just have to believe.  It is however a wonderful place to see and so worth going to the tour.

Stein Lockers

We also learned a few interesting things about the biergarten.

 First Andechs along with Hofbrauhaus has "lockers' for beer steins. These are special lockers with special lidded steins and are generally handed down through families. How great to have your own mug to drink out of whenever you visit?

Second, one of Andechs beers is much stronger than the rest. They don't serve it in the summers because there were too many motorcycle accidents. Also, there is one day in October that they don't serve this beer, "Kiwi Day". Apparently the Australians and New Zealanders all flock to Andechs on the Thursday before Oktoberfest to kick off the season. This I want to see. It's on my calendar - who is joining me?