Document from 1136 @museum.de

"Innocent, bishop and servant to God’s servants, to His faithful son Konrad, abbot of Schuttern monastery: We take the monastery under our protection and reaffirm this by Our present missive. [...] The revenues shall be reserved to you undiminished and for all time. We therefore deem it necessary to list among the [manors of the monastery] the following with their proper names: Friesenheim, Schopfheim, Heiligenzell, Zunsweiler..."

... and last, but not least: Herbsheim, Schuttern’s current sister community in Alsace.

In 1136, a monk had set out from Schuttern on a pilgrimage to Rome, where he requested and received confirmation of the monastery's possessions from the serving pope, Innocent the Third. The document – dated the 28th of October 1136 – lists 22 sites in the immediate vicinity of the monastery as well as in Alsace, Lorraine and Swabia.

Papal protection was crucial if the monastery's properties were to be safeguarded. For the modern reader, the document not only gives an insight into Schuttern’s wealth during the High Middle Ages, but also conveys a sense of its sphere of influence, which extended way beyond the local region.