In "Parish Church and Abbey in the German Middle Ages," Heinrich Schaefer explores a special aspect of German church history. Starting from the question of when the bishop began to relieve the cathedral, which originally served as the sole parish church of the diocese, by establishing several pastoral stations in populous villages, Schaefer paints a detailed picture of the origins and development of parish and abbey churches, continually focusing on the characteristics of parish worship and pastoral care. This is a carefully edited reprint of the original edition from 1903.