Ebrach Abbey, Ebrach, Germany

The former Cistercian monastery in Ebrach is a famous and popular destination. Having a wonderful and unique rose window, the Gothic church is one of the region’s great highlights, along with its Baroque monastic buildings.

Ebrach was probably the most important front post for the cultural and spiritual development of the regions west for Bamberg and the Steigerwald area. The abbey, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Nicholas, was founded in 1126 or 1127 in the bishopric of Würzburg by Conrad III of Germany, his consort Gertrude, who at her death in 1146 was buried here, and various Frankish nobles, including Berno and Richwin. It was settled by twelve monks from Morimond Abbey in Burgundy, under the first abbot, Adam of Ebrach.

This monastery was the third Cistercian abbey in Germany and the oldest and most important in Franconia. Sponsors and patrons of Ebrach abbey at that time were the prince bishops of Wuerzburg and the noblemen and patricians from the country and municipalities that surrounded the monastery. The great Franconian architects Leonhard Dientzenhofer, Josef Greising and Balthasar Neumann designed the Baroque grounds of the former Cistercian abbey. Luckily they maintained the Gothic church with its wonderful rose window.

In 1803 the monastery was secularized. The abbey church became the local parish church.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

ansi 29 (3 years ago)
Very beautiful and definitely worth seeing

Maurizio Singh (3 years ago)
Very beautiful! It could be neater. You could do much more with the place.

Kristina (3 years ago)
It's a very beautiful church. I haven't met others like this before.

Tomas Wutzler (3 years ago)
Zum Kaisersaal gibt es täglich um 13:45 Uhr eine Führung für 2€, geleitet von einem freundlichen Justizvollzugsbeamten. Das Kloster ist inzwischen eine JVA für Jugendliche. Die Führung lohnt sich auf jeden Fall, ansonsten gibt es hier leider nicht viel zu sehen. Gebäude und Gartenanlagen werden aufgrund Geldmangel nicht gepflegt. Auch die Brunnen im Garten sind seit Jahren abgedeckt und werden nicht instandgehalten. Die Pfarrkirche Ebrach direkt nebenan ist jedoch sehr schön und kann täglich, außer 12-14 Uhr, besichtigt werden.

Anna Nazarenko (3 years ago)
Very very good !!!

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Zvonimir Hrvoj

Historic Site of the week

Church of St Donatus

The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.

The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.

Ebrach Abbey

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Church of St Donatus