The Holy Cross Monastery in Donauwörth is a former Benedictine abbey.

The monastery, dedicated to the Holy Cross, was founded around 1040 by Mangold I of Werd as a Benedictine convent. The founding gift was a fragment of the True Cross, which Mangold received in Constantinople as an envoy of the Holy Roman Emperor.

At the beginning of the 12th century, the nunnery was replaced by a Benedictine monastery for men and relocated to the western edge of the town, its highest point within the city walls. After the buildings were damaged during the Thirty Years' War, the west wing of the monastery was rebuilt starting in 1680. The south and east wings were constructed between 1696 and 1700 by Valerian Brenner, incorporating the medieval cloister. Following the War of the Spanish Succession, Abbot Amandus Röls commissioned the construction of a new church. During the Rococo period (1770/1780), the buildings were remodeled and expanded several times. Joseph Schmuzer was the architect of the abbey church. Franz Schmuzer created the stucco work in the church in 1719 and the high altar in 1729. The frescoes in the chancel, which were usually painted there, were executed as oil paintings by Jacob Carl Stauder in 1720.

The abbey was dissolved on January 15, 1803, as part of the secularization process. As a consequence of the Final Recess of the Imperial Deputation, the abbey's movable and immovable property was transferred to the Prince of Oettingen-Wallerstein as compensation for his losses of lands on the left bank of the Rhine, particularly the Lordship of Dagstuhl in the Hinterpfalz region. The abbey church remained as the parish church of the Holy Cross and as a pilgrimage church. At the beginning of the War of the Fifth Coalition (1809), Napoleon Bonaparte resided for several days in the prelature of the dissolved monastery, as evidenced by the "Napoleon Room" still located there today. From there, he even issued the first order of the day of the campaign, which would prove extremely favorable for him with the Peace of Schönbrunn, the culmination and turning point of his power on the European continent. Meanwhile, he had the former monastery church repurposed as a stable.

The last abbot of the monastery was Cölestin Königsdorfer (1756–1840). The archive of the secularized Holy Cross Monastery (Donauwörth) is located in Harburg.

In 1877, the educator Ludwig Auer acquired the monastery buildings.

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Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Heilig_Kreuz_(Donauw%C3%B6rth)

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Elevation 460 m

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Location: Donauwörth, Danube-Ries, Altmühltal, Upper Bavaria, Bavaria, Germany

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