Scots Monastery Germany

The Scots Monastery, Germany is a Benedictine abbey of St. James who was called Jakobskirche. It was founded by the Hiberno-Scottish missionaries and remained in the hands of Irish and Scottish monks respectively. It is from this that the monastery derives its name, and is known as Schottenkirche, Schottenkloster, and Schottenstift in German. The church is situated to the west of the old town center, beside a medieval city gate, called Jakobstor. Built in the year 1190, on an earlier building of 1120 AD, the Scots Monastery, Germany is an outstanding example of Romanesque cathedral planning with a high flat roof and rounded arches.

The Scots Monastery, Germany is famed for the entrance portal that is decorated with 12 sculptures which are Romanesque and Celtic alike. They reveal the Last Judgment, heaven and hell. Most of the sculptures are thought to be representing the damned-like criminals, dancers and acedias. Founded in the 12th century AD by Scots, the latter were actually people who hailed from Ireland. Regensburg was an important center for the Irish mission to central Europe. A papal bull of 1577 transferred the Scots Monastery, Germany from Irish hands to the Scottish abbots. This resulted in the complete breakup in the continuity of the abbey’s tradition.

In 1862, the Scots Monastery, Germany was reopened as a seminary or training college for priests belonging to the German diocese of the Catholic Church. The Minster has a medieval library that was built by the Irish monks with priceless manuscripts. When the Scots finally left Regensburg in 1862, many of the treasures of the Scots Monastery were taken to the Benedictine Abbey at Fort Augustus. Among the collections are a volume of texts written in 1080 by the Irish Benedictine monk Marianus, who founded the community at Regensburg.