Anselm II. Schwab

Reich prelate Anselm II. Schwab, depicted in front of the imperial eagle , points to the pilgrimage church Birnau in the background, which was completed during his term of office ( Gottfried Bernhard Göz , 1749)

Anselm II. Schwab (* 1713 in Füssen ; † 1778 at Castle Maurach ) was a German clergyman of the Cistercian order and abbot and imperial prelate of the imperial abbey of Salem in today's municipality of Salem in Linzgau ( Baden-Württemberg ) from 1746 to 1778. He was among others known as the builder of the Birnau pilgrimage church as well as the abbot's salon and the high tower of the minster of the imperial abbey and as the founder of an orphan's fund.

Life

At the age of 18, Anselm Schwab became a monk and entered the Salem monastery. In 1737 he was ordained a priest in Constance and after the death of Abbot Stephan Enroth, after only one year in office in Salem, Anselm Schwab was appointed Imperial Prelate Anselm II Schwab in the Imperial Abbey of Salem . He also became an imperial privy councilor and founded an orphan fund in 1749, which is known as the first savings bank in Germany.

As the client, he led the construction of the Birnau pilgrimage church , which his predecessor Stephan II. Enroth had started with the builder Peter Thumb , and which was to replace an old Lady Chapel with a miraculous statue of Mary. The church was completed and consecrated in 1750 after four years of construction. The baroque furnishings of the church came from Gottfried Bernhard Göz and Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer . Anselm II. Schwab also attached great importance to rich furnishings in later building projects such as the rococo-style abbot's salon and the early classicist design of the minster with an altar and sculpture ensemble made of alabaster .

Web links

Commons : Anselm II. Schwab  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Anselm II. Schwab , representation on the homepage of the Reichsabtei Salem