Marienstatt Abbey

Marienstatt Abbey is a Cistercian monastery and a pilgrimage site in Streithausen, Rhineland-Palatinate. The abbey has an early-Gothic Basilica with the largest organ in the Westerwald, a library, a brewery with restaurant, a shop for books and art, a guest house, and a privately supported secondary school, the Privates Gymnasium Marienstatt.

The abbey was established by Heisterbach Abbey. The original site was abandoned because of the climate and soil, and the monastery was transferred to the present location in 1222. According to legend, the abbot had a dream of a hawthorn bush that flowered in winter, which led him to choose the new site. The first church there was consecrated on 27 December 1227 under Conrad, the third abbot.

From 1476, lay people were permitted to attend services in the abbey church, and in 1485 the pilgrimage day was made the octave of Corpus Christi. In the Thirty Years' War, Sweden claimed the property as Swedish crown land on 3 October 1633, expelling the brothers and vandalizing the premises. Some brothers returned when the Swedes left. However, abbot Johannes Wittig lived with only one brother and one novice there in 1637. After the war, the monastery flourished again, and most present buildings were erected. Under abbot Benedikt Bach, the church was decorated in Baroque style. The old buildings were demolished and replaced from 1735 to 1751 under Petrus Emons.

In 1802, the abbey was dissolved as part of secularisation and was given to Frederick William, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg. The last brothers left in 1803, but Catholic masses were still held. From 1831, masses were officially tolerated by the Nassau government, when the abbey church became the church of a new parish, Marienstatt, saving it from demolition.

The former boarding house is now a guest house, with school rooms in the basement.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Streithausen, Germany

Details

Founded: 1222
Category: Religious sites in Germany
Historical period: Hohenstaufen Dynasty (Germany)