Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Abbey of Saint-Martin-des-Glandières, located in Longeville-lès-Saint-Avold in the East, is a former Benedictine abbey founded around 587 by Arnoult Bodogisel, father of Arnoul, bishop of Metz. This monastery, dedicated to Saint Martin and the Virgin, was built in the forests of the pagus Glanderriensis, between the Nied and Sarre rivers. His first abbots, Saint Digne and Saint Undo, marked his early history. The site, originally called the Monastery Sancti Martini Glanderiensis, evolved linguistically over the centuries, reflecting its territorial and religious anchor.

In the eighth century, the abbey had fifty-one monks under the direction of Abbé Rabigaudus. She received royal protections, as in 836, when Louis the Pious gave her a title, or in 875, when Louis the Germanic restored property that was dispossessed by Charles-Martel. Donations continued, such as that of Odoacre in 991 (Villa of Many) or the restitution of the church of Hellimmer by Bishop Adalberon II in the year 1000. The abbey extended its land heritage, including villages such as Bambiderstorf or Dourdshal, and founded a hospital in 1215 under Abbé Vulperus.

The 15th and 17th centuries were marked by major reconstructions, notably after the destruction of 1427 (Abbé Pierre de la Mothe) and the repeated looting during the wars (Brandenburg troupes in 1552, Swedes in 1635, Luxembourgers in 1672). Dom Hilaire de Bar undertook a restoration in 1684 with the help of Louis XIV, before the Revolution dispersed the last eleven monks in 1790. Sold as a national property in 1792, the site was partially destroyed by its purchaser, Charles-Frédéric Durbach, who installed a distillery there.

In the 20th century, the abbey passed into several hands: bought in 1905 by the bishopric of Metz, it was entrusted to the Franciscans, who made it a novitiate and a resting place for the clergy. A fire in 1937 required rapid renovation, but World War II damaged the buildings, occupied by the Germans as the centre of the Arbeitsdienst. After 1945, the Franciscans rebuilt a chapel and developed the site as a place of devotion to Notre-Dame de la Paix, before its acquisition in 1954 by the Thionville health insurance fund, transforming it into a house of convalescence.

Today's architecture combines medieval elements (north tower, 15th century crypt) and additions from the 17th to 18th centuries (cloister gallery, large living room). The chapel, rebuilt after 1793 and 1945, houses works by local artists such as Helmut Muller or Philippe Kaeppelin, as well as frescoes tracing his history. The park, reduced to 1.5 ha, retains a historic pool and well. In 2025, the abbey was auctioned at a price of €270,000, after the abandonment of a rehabilitation project in luxury apartments.

The abbey's coat of arms, with three acorns of silver, was taken over by the commune of Longeville-lès-Saint-Avold and bears witness to its monastic heritage. The archives, such as those of Abbé Léon Kessler or Henri Tribout de Morembert, document his economic role (glasshouses, caves troglodytes) and spiritual in the region, from its Merovingian foundation to its post-revolutionary decline.

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