Detail from the 23 m long Traunpanorama of Nikolaus Pernlohner (early 17th century) from F. Mittendorfer’s Traunkirchen, 1981

Illustrations of the Trunseo monastery church, H. Marchetti pp. 74-103 "Das Kloster am See" in Altmünster, 1992.

deed of donation 909 OeSTA HHSTA UR AUR 34

6. Trunseo Abbey

Geschichte Kloster Traunkirchen

Traunkirchen, Austria

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Trunseo - An Agilolfingian foundation

With the Agilolfingers, as with all founders of the monastery of that time, in addition to the thought of the salvation of the founders to be achieved through prayer, land gaining and the economic yield of the property played an important role. In addition, it was taken care that monasteries were always built at a distance from a day trip to the next monastery for the purpose of spending the night. The monasteries of Mondsee and Kremsmünster were at this spatial distance from Trunseo on Lake Traunsee. An Agilolfingian foundation of Trunseo around 760 AD could therefore be suspected.

Altmünster and/or Traunkirchen

When the parish church in Altmünster was renovated in 1973, the floor plan of a brick church, a west gate and a former cemetery outside the early Romanesque church were discovered. There were also floor plans of (monastery) cells at Hagenfeld near Hagenbach, and fragments from the 6th to 10th centuries were found on the Brennbichl. Remains of wood, charcoal and large stones were found under the Romanesque church. Similar finds of wooden church buildings from this period are documented in Chiemgau.
An early Trunseo monastery could also have been established in Traunkirchen. The ancient cult place Johannesberg, a 900-year-celebration in 1532 AD, a 1000-year-celebration in 1680 AD, suggests that Traunkirchen was an old Christian place with a monastery. The idea of a double monastery in Trunseo is tempting: nuns in Traunkirchen, monks in Altmünster, such as St. Peter/Nonnberg in Salzburg, women and men - Chiemsee and others in these times.
It should also be noted that the around 1020 AD founded Abbey Traunkirchen continued the economic and pastoral work of Trunseo, i.e. had taken over benefices and rights from Trunseo. So the Traunkirchen monastery could also have been Trunseo.

Trunseo's decline

The monasteries under the jurisdiction of Agilolfingians, including Trunseo, were incorporated into the Carolingian kingdom after Tassilo's banishment, Trunseo became an imperial monastery. The devastating storms of the Hungarian in the 10th century, but also the secularization of the church, the moral decline of the clergy, like the monks, and the carelessness of the monastery reeves could have brought about the decline.
With the deed of gift of King Ludwig IV, the child, Trunseo was handed over in 909 AD to the Bishop Pilgrim of Salzburg and count Aribo for life at the instigation of friends of Bishop Pilgrim, with all its possessions and rights. This document also confirms the assumption that the monastery was no longer in operation at that time.

© E. Rumpf, R. Hofbauer; Translation: XiBIT Infoguide GmbH