Foundation of the collegiate church

There are no original documentary sources about the earliest beginnings of the Aschaffenburg collegiate church. In the tradition of St. Peter und Alexander, the Saxon Count’s daughter and East Franconian Queen Liutgard (845-885) and Duke Otto I of Bavaria and Swabia (954-982, duke of Swabia from 973, duke of Bavaria from 976) were considered to be the founders of the canonical community for a long time. Liutgard, who was buried together with her daughter Hildegard (c. 879-c. 899) in a predecessor building to the Aschaffenburg collegiate church, was called a "saint" and "founder of this church" (Luckardis sancta fundatrix huius ecclesie) in the Regula fraternitatis (fraternity rule) established in the early 16th century (fol. 378r). However, she can in fact at most be regarded as the builder of a chapel that preceded the collegiate church. The remains of this predecessor building are the oldest structures in today’s collegiate church.

In the second half of the 10th century, Aschaffenburg became the property of Duke Otto, who is also buried in the collegiate church. The claim that he is the founder of the Aschaffenburg collegiate church is found for the first time in written documents from the late 12th century. This refers to a chantry endowment from 1183, which stipulates, among other things, the payment of 5 schillings a year for a light at the collegiate church founder’s tomb (super sepulchrum fundatoris ecclesie nostre).

Duke Otto is also referred to as the huius ecclesie fundator in the collegiate church’s oldest necrology (fol. 80r). There is much to suggest, however, contrary to written tradition, that the foundation - at least of the ecclesiastical community as such - took place much earlier, since even the extensive donations to the collegiate monastery made by Emperor Otto II (955-983, Emperor from 973) in the years 974 to 982, initiated by Duke Otto, would not have been sufficient on their own to support the canons. Similarly, there is no evidence of a one-off basic endowment for Aschaffenburg Monastery, which is why one must assume that this endowment dates back to the time before Duke Otto. Ultimately, the fact that Aschaffenburg Monastery can be verified as a firm and established ecclesiastical institution with a completed and consecrated church as early as 974 - the year of his accession to power - also weighs against him as the actual founder.

While for a long time it was assumed that Otto's parents, Duke Liudolf of Swabia (c. 930-957, Duke of Swabia 950-954) and his wife Ida, the daughter of Duke Hermann of Swabia (d. 949, Duke from 926), founded the church in Aschaffenburg between 947 and 957, more recent research argues for the establishment of an ecclesiastical community in Aschaffenburg by the king's daughter Hildegard, who could have acted as abbess here. Duke Otto, in contrast, can therefore only be considered the founder insofar as he converted this already existing institution into a collegiate foundation.