Tholey Abbey
Abtei Tholey
image	location
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Benedictines
Patron:	Saint Maurice Saint Maurice Saint Maurice was the leader of the legendary Roman Theban Legion in the 3rd century, and one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that group. He was the patron saint of several professions, locales, and kingdoms...
Location:	Tholey Tholey Tholey is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approx. 10 km west of Sankt Wendel, and 30 km north of Saarbrücken.... , Saarland Saarland Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Date of Foundation:	5th-6th century
Style:	mixed, Gothic - Contemporary
First Abbot:	Paulus (Bischof von Verdun)
Current Prior Administrator:	Mauritius Choriol

Tholey Abbey in Tholey

Tholey

Tholey is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approx. 10 km west of Sankt Wendel, and 30 km north of Saarbrücken....

, in the district of Sankt Wendel

Sankt Wendel (district)

Sankt Wendel is a Kreis in the north of the Saarland, Germany. Neighboring districts are Trier-Saarburg, Birkenfeld, Kusel, Neunkirchen, Saarlouis, and Merzig-Wadern.-History:...

 in Saarland

Saarland

Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...

, is a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Maurice

Saint Maurice

Saint Maurice was the leader of the legendary Roman Theban Legion in the 3rd century, and one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that group. He was the patron saint of several professions, locales, and kingdoms...

. It is part of the Beuronese Congregation

Beuronese Congregation

The Beuronese Congregation, or Beuron Congregation, is a union of mostly German or German-speaking religious houses of both monks and nuns within the Benedictine Confederation...

 within the Benedictine Confederation

Benedictine Confederation

The Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict is the international governing body of the Order of Saint Benedict.-Origin:...

.

History

As early as the 5th and 6th centuries a group of clerics had established themselves here in the Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 ruins. On the instructions of Magnerich, bishop of Trier

Archbishopric of Trier

The Archbishopric of Trier was a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany, that existed from Carolingian times until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. Its suffragans were the dioceses of Metz, Toul and Verdun. Since the 9th century the Archbishops of Trier were simultaneously princes and since the 11th...

 from 566 to 600, these hermits formed themselves into monastic communities. One of the earliest of such communities, at the foot of the Schaumberg, is said to have had Saint Wendelin

Wendelin of Trier

Saint Wendelin or Wendelin of Trier was a hermit and abbot.-Life:There is very little definite information about this saint. His earliest biographies , did not appear until after 1417. The story as told there is that Wendelin was the son of a Scottish king...

 as its head, who is thus counted by tradition as the first abbot of Tholey.

The Benedictine history of Tholey is thought to begin in about 750. At the end of the 15th century the abbey joined the Bursfelde Congregation

Bursfelde Congregation

The Bursfelde Congregation, also called Bursfelde Union, was a union of predominantly west and central German Benedictine monasteries and nunneries working for the reform of Benedictine practice. It was named after Bursfelde Abbey.-Background:...

.

In 1794 during the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 the abbey was plundered and burnt down, and dissolved the same year. In 1798 the remaining buildings were auctioned off. In 1806 they became the property of the municipality, as the parish church and priest's house.

The present abbey was established by the Benedictines in 1949 and settled in 1950 by monks from St. Matthias' Abbey, Trier

St. Matthias' Abbey, Trier

St. Matthias' Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The abbey church, a Romanesque basilica, is a renowned place of pilgrimage because of the tomb of Saint Matthias the Apostle, after whom the abbey is named, located here since the 12th century, and the only...

. The monks work in pastoral care and run the guesthouse and book shop.

Abbots since 1949

1949 - 1976	Dr. Petrus Borne
1977 - 1981	Hrabanus Heddergott
1985 - 2007	Makarios Hebler
2008 - up to now	Mauritius Choriol (Prior Administrator)

External links

Website of Tholey Abbey