Imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly after Mau\u00adrus B\u00e4chl had been elect\u00aded abbot (1713), he had the chapel on the Frauen\u00adberg restored to serve as a sub\u00adsti\u00adtute for the community\u2019s ser\u00advices dur\u00ading the rebuild\u00ading of the abbey church. The plans for the new monastery com\u00adplex had been drawn up by Philipp Blank (d. 1720), a Fran\u00adcis\u00adcan lay-broth\u00ader from Ingol\u00adstadt, and the foun\u00adda\u00adtion stone was laid on April 16, 1714. The ruinous old build\u00adings were grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly demol\u00adished, leav\u00ading only the orig\u00adi\u00adnal church tow\u00ader, and by 1716 the new abbey quad\u00adran\u00adgle was struc\u00adtural\u00adly com\u00adplete. Work could then begin on the church, whose foun\u00adda\u00adtion stone was laid by the Prince-Bish\u00adop of Freis\u00ading, Johann Franz Eck\u00adher von Kapf\u00ading und Liecht\u00ade\u00adneck, on June 29, 1716. Two years lat\u00ader, the shell of the new church was com\u00adplet\u00aded, and the same prelate was called upon to con\u00adse\u00adcrate it. A new brew\u00adery was built in 1718\u201319, and a corn loft with a cov\u00adered gate\u00adway lead\u00ading to the abbey court\u00adyard in 1721.<\/p>\n
Prob\u00ada\u00adbly even before Philipp Blank died in 1720, a young self-taught archi\u00adtect, painter, and entre\u00adpre\u00adneur from Munich, Cos\u00admas Dami\u00adan Asam (1686\u20131739), was com\u00admis\u00adsioned to per\u00adfect the Franciscan\u2019s unfin\u00adished (and rather unspec\u00adtac\u00adu\u00adlar) work. Abbot B\u00e4chl thought high\u00adly of Asam, whom he had met in the course of an ear\u00adli\u00ader build\u00ading project at Ens\u00addorf, and whom he prob\u00ada\u00adbly called to Wel\u00adtenburg in 1714 to work on the fres\u00adcoes in the Frauen\u00adberg church. The architect\u2019s first act was to mould the sim\u00adple rec\u00adtan\u00adgle of the nave into a spa\u00adcious domed ellipse, at whose east\u00adern end he then added an apse. The lime\u00adstone fa\u00e7ade of the church was also designed by him. He fin\u00adished the dome\u2019s fres\u00adcoes in 1721, and in the same year his younger broth\u00ader, the sculp\u00adtor and stuc\u00adco artist Egid Quirin Asam (1692\u20131750), cre\u00adat\u00aded the stuc\u00adco dec\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion of the dome\u2019s inte\u00adri\u00ador and set up a pro\u00advi\u00adsion\u00adal main altar. The three-storey monas\u00adtic build\u00adings fac\u00ading the Danube were erect\u00aded in 1724\u201325 by Franz II Beer von Ble\u00adicht\u00aden (1660\u20131726), a mas\u00adter builder and con\u00adtrac\u00adtor from the Vorarl\u00adberg region in west\u00adern Aus\u00adtria. A short\u00adage of funds now began to hin\u00adder progress. Nev\u00ader\u00adthe\u00adless, the organ \u2013 built like those at the abbeys of Rohr and Met\u00adten by Johann Kon\u00adrad Bran\u00adden\u00adstein (1695\u2013 1757) from Stad\u00adtamhof (now part of Regens\u00adburg) \u2013 was installed in 1729, and the pul\u00adpit of Wel\u00adtenburg mar\u00adble, made by the local stone\u00adma\u00adson Johann Jakob K\u00fcrschner
\n(d. 1755), was com\u00adplet\u00aded in 1732. The four side altars and two wall fres\u00adcoes in the body of the church \u2013 also by the Asam broth\u00aders \u2013 were fin\u00adished in 1736, and in the same year the bench\u00ades and con\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adals were installed. Cos\u00admas Damian\u2019s son, Franz Eras\u00admus Asam (1720\u20131795), put the fin\u00adish\u00ading touch\u00ades to his father\u2019s work after the latter\u2019s death, com\u00adplet\u00ading the fres\u00adcoes on the vestibule ceil\u00ading in 1745. The abbey com\u00adplex was also pro\u00advid\u00aded with a degree of defen\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty by the tur\u00adret\u00aded gar\u00adden wall built along the east\u00adern bound\u00adary in 1733.<\/p>\n
Wel\u00adtenburg Abbey as we see it today is basi\u00adcal\u00adly the orig\u00adi\u00adnal Baroque ensem\u00adble, although both archi\u00adtec\u00adture and fur\u00adnish\u00adings have been affect\u00aded, at times adverse\u00adly, by the repairs, refur\u00adbish\u00adments and func\u00adtion\u00adal alter\u00adations made nec\u00ades\u00adsary most\u00adly by damp and flood dam\u00adage. These mea\u00adsures were not always well exe\u00adcut\u00aded, but the recent gen\u00ader\u00adal restora\u00adtion of the abbey church pre\u00adsent\u00aded an oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to rem\u00ade\u00addy some ear\u00adli\u00ader errors and to under\u00adtake var\u00adi\u00adous con\u00adser\u00adva\u00adtion mea\u00adsures \u2013 among them ven\u00adti\u00adla\u00adtion and tem\u00adper\u00ada\u00adture con\u00addi\u00adtion\u00ading of the church. In 2008, to under\u00adline the con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00ading monas\u00adtic pres\u00adence, the sanc\u00adtu\u00adary was fur\u00adnished with a set of ash-wood choir stalls and a cast bronze ambo made by the sculp\u00adtor Alfred B\u00f6schl (1949 \u20132020) from Adl\u00adhausen, near Langquaid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly after Mau\u00adrus B\u00e4chl had been elect\u00aded abbot (1713), he had the chapel on the Frauen\u00adberg restored to serve as a sub\u00adsti\u00adtute for the community\u2019s ser\u00advices dur\u00ading the rebuild\u00ading of the abbey church. The plans for the new monastery com\u00adplex had been drawn up by Philipp Blank (d. 1720), a Fran\u00adcis\u00adcan lay-broth\u00ad\u00ader from Ingol\u00adstadt, and \u2026 <\/p>\n