map →

Osterhofen is situated at an altitude of 311 m in the Gäuboden area south of the Danube in the district Deggendorf of Lower Bavaria. The municipality has a population of about 11,900 (2006).

Documents of the first half of the 9th century, issued by the eastfrankish king Ludwig II ('the German,') mention Ostrehova as a royal residence. The town of Osterhofen was founded in 1378 and thus is one of the youngest towns in Lower Bavaria. The older market place since then is known under the name Altenmarkt (i.e. 'old market'). In 1427 Osterhofen was purchased by Duke Heinrich XVI ('the Rich') of Bavaria-Landshut. In 1972 the villages Galgweis, Gergweis and Göttersdorf were incorporated into the municipality of Osterhofen.

The monastery Osterhofen was founded around 1004 by Duke Heinrich V of Bavaria as a collegiate monastery. In 1017 Emperor Heinrich II donated the monastery to the prince-bishopric of Bamberg. Since 1138 the monastery was home of Premonstratensian monks. After the monastery had been elevated to an abbey in 1288 it became a spiritual and cultural centre of the region. In 1701 the monastery had to be rebuilt after a bolt of lightning had set fire to the buildings. In the 1720s the old monastery church was also rebuilt. The new church was to become an architectural marvel. the architect was Johann Michael Fischer, the interior was designed by the famous brothers Cosmas Damian and Egid Quirin Asam. Together they shaped one of the most impressive baroque churches of Bavaria. The new church was consecrated in 1740. However, already in 1783 the monastery was dissolved because it had become insolvent. Since the secularisation following the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803 the church has been used as the parish church of Altenmarkt (today part of Osterhofen). In 1858 the former monastery was handed over to the Sisters of Loreto (The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, since 2004 Congregatio Jesu, in German commonly known as 'Englische Fräulein', literaly 'English Ladies'), the Maria Ward Sisters of Altötting (named for Mary Ward, the foundress of the Congregatio Jesu). The monastery since then is known under the name Kloster Damenstift. In 1983 Pope John Paul II granted the church the rank of a Basilica minor.