Abbey & Church

Some 5 km south-west of Kel­heim, at the gate­way to the wild and leg­end-filled roman­tic land­scape where the Riv­er Danube has cut a gorge through the south­ern reach­es of the Fran­con­ian Jura, stands the Bene­dic­tine Abbey of Wel­tenburg. While its posi­tion on a nar­row grav­el bank in a bend of the riv­er pro­vid­ed some seclu­sion, it did not pro­tect the abbey from the rav­ages of war or allow it to pros­per in peace. On the con­trary, the loca­tion has always been par­tic­u­lar­ly exposed to the adver­si­ties of nature, espe­cial­ly flood­ing and ice drift.