destroyed the splendid buildings erected by Stephen Mösinger and put an end to Langheim. On 23 June 1803, the community, at that time numbering forty-nine members, was secularised by a decree of the Prince Elector of Bavaria. The monks were dispersed to various places, and the last abbot, Candide Hemmerlein, received a pension of 8000 florins, with which he retired to Thieb Castle, where he died in 1814. After dissolution The remnants of the buildings after the fire were unsafe and were demolished, including the abbey church. A few structural items survive incorporated in the town centre of Klosterlangheim. Monks of Langheim This abbey gave to the Catholic Church in Germany many distinguished bishops and also writers. These include the monk Engelrich, who wrote the "Leben der hl. Mathilde, Abtissin von Edelstetten" ("Life of Saint Mechtilde, Abbess of Edelstetten"); and Simon Schreiner of the seventeenth century, who composed a treatise on the Fourteen Holy Helpers and an "Apologia contra Lutheranos". The abbot Mauritius Knauer, a distinguished mathematician and astronomer, published a number of works on the natural sciences and also an ascetical work entitled "Tuba Coeli" (1649–64). The most prolific author was however Joachim Jaeck, who after secularisation published the results of his extensive researches on the history of Bamberg and the surrounding country. Foundations Plass Abbey In 1144 Langheim founded Plass Abbey in the diocese of Prague. Vierzehnheiligenbasilika In 1445 Abbot Frederick Hengelein had built at Bad Staffelstein near Frankenthal, as a dependency of the abbey, a church in honour of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, which soon became a popular place of pilgrimage. Abbot Mösinger, after the re-construction of the main abbey complex was completed, commissioned Balthasar Neumann to re-build it as a Baroque church. It survived the destruction of the abbey, after the dissolution of which it was entrusted to the care of the Franciscans and still stands today as the Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen. Abbots from 1556 1556–1562 Friedrich Marschalk 1562–1572 Ludwig Fuchs 1572–1582 Magnus Hofmann 1582–1584 Wilhelm Krenich 1584–1592 Konrad Holzmann 1592–1608 Johann Bückling 1608–1620 Peter Schönfelder 1620–1626 Johann Weiger 1626–1631 Erasmus Behem (or Böhm) 1631–1637 Nikolaus Eber 1637–1649 Johann Gagel 1649–1664 Mauritius Knauer 1664–1677 Alberich Semmelmann 1677–1689 Thomas Wagner 1689–1690 Candidus Bergmann 1690–1728 Gallus Knauer 1728–1734 Martin Wolf 1734–1751 Stephan Mösinger 1751–1774 Malachias Limmer 1774–1791 Johann Nepomuk Pitius (suspended from 1788) 1791–1803 Candidus Hemmerlein References Geldner, F., 1990. Langheim. Wirken und Schicksal eines fränkischen Zisterzienser-Klosters