Hemma of Altdorf

Hemma of Altdorf, also called Emma, was queen of the East Franks as the wife of King Louis the German, and she reposed at Regensburg on 31 January 876. In Regensburg she is also known as Blessed Hemma.

She was born around 803 into the house of the Welfs, daughter of Count Welf I of Altdorf. Her elder sister Judith was the wife of the emperor Louis the Pious. In 827 she married Louis the German, then king of Bavaria, and from 843, after the Treaty of Verdun, she was the first queen of the East Franks. Of this marriage were born three sons who became kings, and several daughters, three of whom entered the monastic life.

In 833 she received from her husband the abbey of Obermünster in Regensburg and was set at its head. The sources of the time mention her rarely and show that she had little part in governing; they do praise her goodness and the exemplary life of the marriage. One chronicler, Hincmar of Reims, reproaches her with pride.

In 874 she suffered a stroke that left her paralyzed and speechless. She reposed a few months before her husband and was buried at the abbey of Saint Emmeram in Regensburg. Her tomb, made around 1300, is a prized work of sculpture.

She is honored locally as a blessed; no Orthodox synodal canonization is known.