Gengenbach Abbey
The Benedictine monastery, founded in the 8th century, had the status of an imperial abbey and proudly presented its status towards the imperial city next door. Around 1700 a large new convent building was erected while the Romanesque abbey church remained and just received a refurbishment inside. The tall baroque steeple, a landmark in the townscape together with the defence towers of the city, was added in 1712-1714.The facades of the church show its Romanesque structure with some baroque additions, for example the curved ornaments on the Southern gable. The interior underwent another thorough refurbishment in the late 19th century, the era of historism, which removed all baroque additions aiming to reconstruct the medieval interior. Hence most of the interior is neo-romanesque or neogothic, including the frescoes and the flat ceiling.