The Benedictine monastery was founded in 1129 as a private episcopal monastery by Count Ernst II of Hirschberg and his brothers Count Hartwig III of Grögling, governor of the Bishopric of Eichstätt, and Gebhard of Hirschberg, Bishop of Eichstätt.[1] The Romanesque crypt from the time of its foundation still exists.
In the 15th century, morals in the monastery began to decline. In 1458, the monks' way of life was again more strictly aligned with the Rule of Benedict through the principles of the Kastler Reform.[2] Abbot Ulrich IV Dürner (1461–1494) continued this reform and founded the brewery. During the Peasants' War (1525) and the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), large parts of the monastery were damaged or destroyed.
The first renovation work in the church and monastery did not begin until the middle of the 17th century. Major construction work did not begin until the end of the 17th century. The art-loving Abbot Romanus Dettinger (1694–1703) created the baroque gateway with the former abbot's apartment above it. The Prelate's Hall and the Banqueting Hall express the baroque joie de vivre. The construction of the characteristic corner tower, which you pass on the way through the inner courtyard, also dates back to the reign of Abbot Romanus Dettinger. His successor, Abbot Dominikus II Heuber (1704–1711), continued the dominant baroque architecture; he arranged for the relocation of the sacristy and built the imposing brewery building (now the library). Abbot Dominikus IV Fleischmann (1757–1792) was particularly concerned with the monastery church. He was responsible for the construction of the Chapel of the Cross, which was stuccoed by the Eichstätt court stucco artist Johann Jakob Berg. The guest house opposite the gate was also built during his reign. ♁⊙ In 1806, the monastery was also dissolved as part of the secularization. The monastery buildings and economy were auctioned off. Andreas Schmidt describes in his article Monastery in Transition: Responsibility for Creation. On the way to a sustainable circular economy in and with the region that this destroyed "not only the spiritual and cultural life in the region" but also "a functioning regional economic system". In 1856 there were plans to rebuild the dissolved monastery. The plan failed because the state authorities did not grant permission for it.
In 1904, Plankstetten was rebuilt as a priory of the Scheyern monastery with financial help from Barons von Cramer-Klett. On November 5, 1907, an agricultural school was opened under the name Plankstetten Rural Further Education School. In 1911 it was renamed Agricultural Winter School; around 50 students were taught in two winter courses each year. There was a boarding school for them. In 1917 Plankstetten became an abbey again.