Every imperial monastery had a so-called "Emperor's Hall" for official representational duties. Neresheim Abbey strove for imperial immediacy and planned an appropriate room for representative occasions in the overall Baroque renovation of the monastery complex, which began under Abbot Simpert Niggl (1682-1706) toward the end of the 17th century. In view of its modest dimensions, however, it was always referred to only as a "banqueting hall". Its construction was begun in 1699 and completed in 1702.

"It is 23.7 meters long, about 10.5 meters wide and 6 meters high. Six windows to the west and three to the south let in enough light." No more information is to be found in the building records. There is no record of what it used to look like. Abbot Amandus Fischer (1711-1729) ordered a complete redesign in 1719. Dominikus Zimmermann, architect and stucco plasterer of the Wessobrunn school, was enlisted for the design and execution. The interior design, in line with his ideas, was started in 1719 and completed as early as 1720.

Until the secularization of the monastery in 1802, the banqueting hall was used for the reception of high guests such as the Dukes of Württemberg, for meetings of the Lower Swabian Benedictine Congregation, for music and theatre events of the monastery high school.

"What a refreshing view into creation! But the wise monastic sees here more than what merely delights the eye." C.C.L Hirschfeld, 1785

The Lower Swabian Benedictine Congregation

In 1685, the abbeys of Ottobeuren, Elchingen, Irsee, Donauwörth, Füssen, Mönchs-deggingen, Fultenbach, and Neresheim founded the Lower Swabian Benedictine Congregation. The knowledge that they belonged together prompted Abbot Amandus Fischer to incorporate the views of the eight congregation monasteries into the design of the banqueting hall.

Along the interior walls, Dominikus Zimmermann created nine stuccoed "window views" in which the three pilgrimage churches of Neresheim and one of each of the eight monastery complexes are depicted in bas-relief.

The following is a comparison: In the upper row of pictures, the appearance of the abbeys according to contemporary copperplate engravings at the beginning of the 17th century. In the middle row of pictures, their representation in the banqueting hall, in Baroque renovation. In the photo below, their present-day views.

Sketches:

Ottobeuren Abbey under Abbot Rupert Neß (1710-1740). Founded 764, secularised 1802, abbey again since 1918.

Sketches:

Elchingen Abbey near Ulm under Abbot Cölestin Rieder (1706-1740). Founded 1120, secularised 1802, demolished, except for the church, in 1840.

Sketches:

Irsee Abbey near Kaufbeuren under Abbot Willibald Grindl (1704-1731). Founded 1186, secularised 1802, today a conference centre.

Sketches:

Heiligkreuz (Holy Cross) Abbey in Donauwörth, under Abbot Amandus Röls (1691-1747). Founded in 1040, secularised in 1802, educational foundation since 1877.

Sketches:

St. Magnus Abbey in Füssen under Abbot Dominikus Dierling (1714-1738). Founded c. 750, secularised in 1802, now owned by the town of Füssen.

Sketches:

Mönchsdeggingen Abbey under Abbot Heinrich Werner (1700-1743).Founded in 959, secularised in 1802, monastery again since 1950.

Sketches/pictures:

Fultenbach Abbey, under Abbot Magnus Schmid von Wellenstein (1700-1723). Founded in 739, secularised in 1802. Demolished in 1811, with the exception of the farmhouse.

St. Ulrich and Afra Abbey Neresheim under Abbot Amandus Fischer (1711-1729). Founded in 1095, secularised in 1802, rebuilt in 1920.

Commission and execution

Dominikus Zimmermann did not work far from Neresheim, where a new church was being built according to his designs, in the Maria Medingen monastery (1716-1725) . There were long-standing connections between the monasteries of Maria Medingen and Neresheim, which very probably also led to the first personal contacts between Abbot Amandus and Zimmermann.

On 24 February 1719, Dominikus Zimmermann arrives in Neresheim and submits a plan for the stucco and pictorial decoration of the banqueting hall. On 20 April 1719, the execution begins, which in Zimmermann's absence is under the direction of his palliator Nikolaus Schütz from Landsberg. On 10 November 1719, the stucco work is completed. During this time, Zimmermann himself is present in Neresheim on 41 days, so that not only the concept of the overall design but also essential details of the implementation, especially the pictorial relief work, can be attributed to him. It is the only banqueting hall in the comprehensive and versatile oeuvre of the master builder and plasterer from Wessobrunn. The following were involved in its completion Johann Baptist Zimmermann, painter and plasterer, older brother of Dominikus. He is credited with contributing to the landscape and decorative paintings along the narrow sides of the room.

The ceiling frescoes were executed by Matthias Zink, a painter from Eichstätt. The various painterly manuscripts of the wall and plinth paintings suggest the collaboration of other artistic personalities from the Wessobrunn working group, whose names, however, are not documented.

The decorative splendour of the festival hall is enhanced by the tiled floor made of Solnhofen marble with its star-shaped pattern. It was made by Johann Hönle, a stonemason from Mörnsheim. The entrance portals are the work of Michael Gentner, a stonemason from Neresheim.

The pictorial programme

Capturing the expanse and the light that surround the monastery on the Ulrichsberg in a special and striking way, and continuing them inside the room with imaginary landscape shields and flower arrangements - this idea determines the basic concept of the painting of the banqueting hall. In its variety of stylistic elements, it is not easily comprehensible from today's perspective, but it embodies the idea of the "garden hall" - a very popular form of representative, appealing and stimulating interior design in the 18th century.

The pictorial programme comprises three thematic groups: imaginary nature, real architecture and deep Marian devotion. These three thematic complexes are confidently linked by decorative ornaments so that, despite the different painting styles and design techniques, a coherent spatial impression is created. The plinth area of the walls is decorated with profane landscape depictions in various monochrome colours. Superimposed on them are iconographic medallions that correspond to contemporary ideas of the appearance of certain saints. It is difficult to interpret who is depicted in detail. These portraits alternate with scenarios from the life of Mary. The ceiling frescoes are entirely dedicated to the glories and symbolism of the Virgin Mary, which were pronounced in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The ceiling frescoes

In the cycle of ceiling frescoes, painted by Matthias Zink from Eichstätt, the veneration of Mary is particularly expressed. The central main fresco contains the then widespread depiction of the "beautiful Virgin": Mary ascending to heaven. Her wreath of blossoms as a symbol of earthly virginity is exchanged for the crown of stars that makes her the Queen of Heaven. In the composition of the picture, Matthias Zink takes up the content of a Wessobrunn picture of grace by Innozenz Menzi (1704), which had found great veneration through numerous publications and festive disputations, especially in the Benedictine monasteries of southern Germany.

The themes of the other ceiling frescoes can be traced back to a graphic work that still belongs to the holdings of the monastery library today: a collection of the most important emblematic representations of the "Immaculata Conceptio", (the Immaculate Conception), published in St. Gall in 1695.

With the help of "Symbola", mostly taken from nature, as well as a "Lemma", a short Latin text as a point of comparison, the immaculate conception of Mary is thematised in Baroque proof. Twelve of these "Symbola" and "Lemma", which illustrate the work in the form of copper engravings, are used by Matthias Zink to include them in the ceiling fresco, partly in monochrome, partly in vivid colour, as the example on the right shows.

The restoration

The room could only be used in its original purpose as a representative banqueting hall for receptions of ecclesiastical and secular dignitaries and for music and theatre performances for about eight decades. With the occupation of the monastery by Napoleonic troops in 1796 and the secularisation that followed in 1802, the constantly changing misuse and gradual decay began. After extensive preliminary investigations, the fundamental renovation of the building fabric and the restoration of the entire furnishings was initiated in 1993. In 1995, on the occasion of the nine-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the monastery, the work was successfully completed.