Gandersheim Abbey

Gandersheim Abbey (Stift Gandersheim) is a former house of secular canonesses (Frauenstift) in the present town of Bad Gandersheim in Lower Saxony, Germany; at present it is the Evangelical Lutheran Collegiate Church of Saints Anastasius and Innocent at Gandersheim Abbey (Evangelisch-lutherische Stiftskirche der Heiligen Anastasius und Innocentius am Stift Gandersheim). It was founded in 852 by Count Liudolf of Saxony and his wife, Oda, progenitors of the Liudolfing or Ottonian dynasty, whose rich endowments ensured its stability and prosperity. The "Imperial free secular foundation of Gandersheim" (Kaiserlich freies weltliches Reichsstift Gandersheim), as it was officially known from the 13th century to its dissolution in 1810, was a community of the unmarried daughters of the high nobility, leading a godly life but not under monastic vows, which is the meaning of the word "secular" in the title. Mass according to the Evangelical Lutheran tradition is held every Sunday at the Evangelical Lutheran Collegiate Church of Saints Anastasius and Innocent at Gandersheim Abbey.

Monastery data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).