Lorsch Abbey Reconstruction
and Information System
Historical introduction
Below is a small overview of the history of Lorsch Abbey, with special regards to the sources we have for the present project.
History of Lorsch Abbey
Dates and Sources
| 764 | Lorsch Abbey is mentioned for the first time. It is situated on a small island in the river Weschnitz. The founding family, Cancor and Williswinda, gives the abbey to a relative: Bishop Chrodegang of Metz. |
| 765 | The relics of St. Nazarius arrive at Lorsch Abbey. |
| 766–772 | After Cancor's and Chrodegang's death a legal dispute between the heirs arises. It is finally settled by Charlemagne, upon which the abbey is gratefully given to the king. |
| 767–774 | The abbey is transferred to the ice age sand dune where we find it today. 774 the church is consecrated in the presence of Charlemagne and several bishops. |
| 825–900 | At some point during this period the King's Hall is built. The first time it is mentioned in the written sources falls into the 17th century. |
| 876 | Louis the German dies, he wants to be buried in Lorsch, a wish his son Louis the Younger fulfills. |
| 882 | Louis the Younger dies and is laid to rest in Lorsch next to his father in the church he had built for this purpose. This church is called ecclesia varia, the colourful church. |
| after 951 | Reforms in the monastic organisation and strict obedience to the benedictine rules give the abbey another prime. |
| 1077–1108 | Several attempts to introduce the Hirsau Reform to the abbey, but all of them fail. |
| 1090 | The abbey church burns down. The report mentions that the fire starts at a castellum where the bells hang, then the towers with the porticibus become the victims of the flames. Finally the lead on the roofs starts dripping down. |
| 1130 | Eventually the abbey church is consecrated after repairs. |
| End of the 12th cent. |
The Lorsch Codex is being compiled. This and the Lorsch Necrolog-Anniversar (14th cent.) are the main written sources about the abbey. |
| 1232 | Lorsch Abbey falls into the ownership of the Bishop of Mainz—it loses its independence. Additionally the bishop supplants the Benedictine monks with Cistercians. |
| 1248 | After the violent death of the Cistercian abbot in the ongoing fight for the abbey Premonstratensians arrive at Lorsch. |
| 1556 | In the course of the Reformation Lorsch Abbey is closed. |
| 1621 | Spanish troops arrive at Lorsch during the Thirty Years’ War and burn the empty monastery down. Later it is used as a quarry for the surrounding area. |
| 17th cent. | Marquard Freher and Georg Helwich write about the former monastery. They must have visited the site before its destruction in the Thirty Years’ War. |
| 1645 | A copper engraving of Lorsch Abbey is published by Matthäus Merian the Elder. The sketches for this work must have been made before the destruction of the monastery in 1621. |
| before 1744 to 1749 |
Three plans showing the area of the former monastic site. |
| 1849 | The abbey gate house is torn down to make way for a new road to Bensheim. |
| 19th cent. onwards |
Cadastral maps and drawings of the remaining two buildings record the changes on site. |
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Excavations |
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| 1800 | The forest superintendent Carl Friedrich von Hausen searches for treasure on the former abbey grounds. He finds 5 or 9 sarcophagi, but only one of them remains. It is often (wrongly) assigned to Louis the German. |
| 1861, 1876 | Two small excavations, one at the north side of the church, the other near the King's Hall, both with little recording. |
| 1890 | Excavation by Rudolf Adamy. He publishes his conclusions but little in the way of real excavation recordings. The first reconstruction of the church-atrium-King's Hall-complex is drawn. |
| 1895–1897 | Small excavation in the south-west of the site. |
| 1902 | Two excavations: one by H. Gieß close to the church, another by Bernhard Müller who discoveres Roman material, from which he concludes that the church was preceded by a Roman settlement. |
| 1907–1908 | Another excavation by H. Gieß. A plan of the site is included in one of his articles. |
| 1920 | Rauch and Zeh are excavating near the church. Only a plan survives but no written report. |
| 1927–1937 | Friedrich Behn excavates a great part of the former abbey. Only the years 1927 to 1933 are published, but some unpublished recordings exist. |
| 1998 till now |
The University of Bamberg is re-excavating Behn's trenches to check his results. |
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