Germany's Münsterschwarzach Abbey requests research into Korean artifacts

It has been revealed that the historic Münsterschwarzach Abbey in Germany is seeking cooperation from Korean experts to conduct research on Korean artifacts.
According to the Chilgok County Office in North Gyeongsang Province in the southeast of South Korea on the 21st, Father Franciscu, who is in charge of the museum at the monastery, visited Germany with Kim Jae Wook of Chilgok County.
The delegation, led by Mayor Kim, said that they hope to promote tourism through the construction of infrastructure for Catholic tourism.
He was in Germany to revitalize the optical industry and build a bridgehead into the European market. On the 18th, he inspected the monastery and checked the Korean relics and unregistered relics.
The monastery houses a museum containing artifacts collected by missionaries who were sent to Korea from the end of the Korean Empire to the Japanese colonial period.
In 2018, the site of a beekeeping kiln, Korea's first Western-style beekeeping teaching material, was returned to Korea, becoming a hot topic, but detailed documentation of the Korean artifacts has yet to be compiled.
Father Franciscu said Korean relics are mixed in with relics from other Asian countries and the exact situation is unclear.
The monastery intends to actively support the study by experts. Chilgok County is home to Catholic cultural heritage sites such as the Hantiganeungil (pilgrimage trail), and Waegwan Monastery is located within the county.
The Abbey of Wakan and the Abbey of Münsterschwarzach are taking advantage of their close ties as members of the Society of St. Benedict and the Odilia Congregation.
The government plans to return Korean relics on a permanent lease basis, move them around for exhibition, and display them at a Catholic cultural facility that is currently under construction.
"We will work together to make it possible for Korean relics currently in storage in Germany to be exhibited in Chilgok County," he said. "We will revitalize the tourism industry by building infrastructure for Catholic tourism and transform Chilgok County from a protectorate to a future-oriented one."
"We will expand into a city of peace," he said. Meanwhile, in 2005, the "Gyeonjae Jeongseon Painting Album" (a collection of paintings from the Joseon period) that had been kept at the St. Ottilien Abbey in Germany was purchased by the government.
The sketchbook, which is currently kept at the National Museum of Korea, was returned to the Waegwan Monastery.