Prüfening Abbey

Prüfening Abbey stands on the western edge of Regensburg in Bavaria, a Romanesque basilica built in 1125 as the first major church of the School of Hirsau in the region. Founded in 1119 by Bishop Otto I of Bamberg, the abbey church is dedicated to Saint George and still preserves its original dedicatory inscription from 1119, created by printing. The Romanesque wall-paintings inside remain well preserved, offering a rare glimpse of medieval art.

The abbey’s first abbot, Erminold, was killed by monks for his strict rule, yet his tomb built in 1283 became a masterpiece by an unknown Regensburg cathedral master-builder known today as the Erminold Master. From the 1130s to the 1160s, Wolfger served as librarian, archivist and treasurer while writing historical and biographical works. After secularisation in 1803, the buildings passed through different hands before Prince Max Emanuel of Thurn and Taxis attempted to restore monastic life there.

Today the former abbey church serves as an auxiliary church for the Catholic parish of St. Boniface, while the rest of the complex houses a Montessori school. The site remains connected to its Benedictine past despite its new uses, and the abbey church’s Romanesque architecture continues to draw visitors. The preserved medieval paintings and the Erminold Master’s tomb stand as silent witnesses to centuries of history.