Königsbronn Abbey

Königsbronn Abbey was a Cistercian monastery in Königsbronn in Heidenheim an der Brenz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.Pre-ReformationThe settlement grew up round a castle of the Counts of Dillingen, the Herwartstein, which in the 13th century passed to the Counts of Helfenstein. In 1286 it was besieged by Rudolf of Habsburg, surrendered after two weeks and was demolished.In 1303, Emperor Albert I founded a Cistercian monastery here, which was settled from Salem Abbey. When the permanent buildings were constructed between 1310 and 1325, most of the stone came from the ruined castle. The new monastery was called Königsbronn, from which the town took its name.Albert granted it as part of its endowment the advowson of the church of Reutlingen, where the Königsbronner Klosterhof remains to this day; it is now used as the local history museum of Reutlingen.The whole region was not only strategically situated but was also from an early period a highly productive centre for ore extraction and metal working, which made it unusually valuable. Its possession was therefore keenly sought after, and it was frequently used as a political bargaining counter.