Blessed Ratholdus of Aibling

Rathold of Aibling was likely born around 900 AD as a scion of the Rapotonen, a family with estates in the Lower Inn Valley. The exempt Sedlhof Prantshausen (later Prantshausen Castle) in Bad Aibling, first mentioned in documents in 800, is assumed to be his birthplace. According to legend, Rathold withdrew as a hermit into a cave opposite the present-day Georgenberg (near Stans in the Tyrolean Lower Inn Valley) in the first half of the 10th century, after allegedly undertaking pilgrimages to Rome and Santiago de Compostela. Companions appear to have followed him soon after. The community was elevated to a Benedictine abbey by Bishop Reginbert of Brixen no later than 1138. The first abbot (1138–1174) was Eberhard of the Aibling family. In the Middle Ages, St. Georgenberg was the most important pilgrimage site in Tyrol. Pilgrimages from Aibling to the monastery, which is situated on a rocky outcrop above the confluence of the Georgenbach and the Stanser Bach (which emerges from the Stallenbach), continue to this day. From Stans, it can be reached via the picturesque Wolfsklamm gorge, among other routes. Rathold, also referred to in various sources as Ratold, Rapoto III, or Ratolf III, died in the second half of the 10th century, presumably on the Georgenberg; according to some sources, he died in 954. He was beatified. His feast day is December 16.