Irmengard

Saint Irmgard (Irmengard) was the second daughter of King Louis the German and Queen Hemma, of the Carolingian dynasty, abbess of Buchau and Chiemsee. She was born around 831 or 833 at the royal court in Regensburg and reposed on 16 July 866.

Like her sisters, she was destined for the monastic life and was raised at the Benedictine abbey of Buchau in Swabia, whose estates she later received from her father. She was known for her broad education. Around 850 Louis made her abbess of Frauenwörth on the island of Frauenchiemsee, founded by the last Agilolfing duke Tassilo III in 782 and an imperial abbey since 788. Under her leadership the decayed buildings were restored and the community of noble ladies became a Benedictine convent. Because of her imperial descent, the abbesses of Frauenwörth had the right to wear a thin golden hoop, like a little crown.

She was already venerated as a saint in the first century after her death; in 1004 Abbot Gerhard had her head reliquary moved to Seeon Abbey. She was beatified by Pope Pius XI on 17 July 1929, and her scattered relics were reunited in a festive ceremony in 2003. At Frauenchiemsee the Sunday nearest to 16 July is "Irmgard's day". She is shown in icons in a Benedictine habit, crowned, with a Bible and an abbess's staff. She is commemorated on 16 July as a saint of the undivided Church, by the New Calendar.