The panel relic was donated by Abbot Peter von Gomaringen.
Abbot of Bebenhausen: members of his family occupied that position three times. His older brother Werner von Gomaringen immediately preceded him, first as prior and by 1356 as abbot of Bebenhausen, for more than forty years. After Peter von Gomaringen held office from 1393 to 1412, the leadership of the Cistercian abbey was taken over by Heinrich von Hailfingen, a closely relative of the family.
The lands of Bebenhausen.
The office of Abbot Werner meant the beginning of economic success for the monastery. He attempted to concentrate the land holdings of Bebenhausen into a cohesive whole. As the 19th abbot of Bebenhausen, his younger brother Peter continued this path. Distant parcels of land, which were difficult for the abbey to work, were sold, so that nearer parcels could be bought. In the end, the monastery worked and ruled an almost completely enclosed territory.
The symbol of the monastery.
The crossing tower of the monastery church, which can still be seen today, is the symbol of Bebenhausen. Abbot Peter was the builder. On a fresco in the choir of the monastery church, he had himself depicted as the one presenting the tower to the Virgin Mother. However, according to the rules of the Cistercian order, large church towers made of stone were forbidden. Abbot Peter broke this rule twice: He also gave the summer refectory a ridge turret. In the chapter house, a tomb slab commemorates this proud abbot.
