WELCOME! The Abbesses' House, Hochelten Count Wichmann founded a women's monastery around 967 in Elten (a little village which is now part of Emmerich, close to the German/Dutch border). In 968, Emperor Otto I donated an imperial estate to the Elten Abbey Church, namely the estate that Count Wichmann had held as a fief. Furthermore, in 970, Emperor Otto I confirmed the hereditary properties that the church had received from Count Wichmann. In the same year, Count Wichmann transferred the abbey church to the Pope. The founder's daughter, Liutgard, became the first abbess. The monastery (also known as Stift Elten or Reichsstift Elten ) was dedicated to Saint Vitus . Otto II placed the monastery under imperial protection in 973. The canonesses were now granted the right to freely elect their abbess and immunity. However, the bishops of Utrecht were granted the right to confirm the abbess. One list has been preserved (dated 1380), containing the names of twelve canonesses an...