Isenhagen Abbey (german: Kloster Isenhagen) is a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

Hankensbüttel Hankensbüttel is a municipality in the Samtgemeinde Hankensbüttel in the district of Gifhorn, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km south of Uelzen, and 30 km north of Gifhorn. The Municipality Hankensbüttel inclu ...

in the district of

Gifhorn Gifhorn () is a town and capital of the district of Gifhorn in the east of Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of about 42,000 and is mainly influenced by the small distance to the more industrial and commercially important cities nearby, ...

in the German state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. It was a nunnery founded by the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

order but is now a Lutheran women's convent. It is managed by the monastic chamber in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Origins

The name of the abbey, Isenhagen, is probably derived from its original site next to the

River Ise The River Ise is a river in Northamptonshire, England and a tributary of the River Nene. The river rises in a field that was part of the site of the Battle of Naseby in north-western Northamptonshire. The parish of Naseby lies across a watershe ...

and an area of woodland. It was founded in 1243 as a

friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

for Cistercians in the present-day locality of Alt-Isenhagen within the town of

. After being in existence for just 16 years it was burnt down and, in 1262, rebuilt as a nunnery. In 1329 it was moved to Hankensbüttel where it is to this day.

Description

Since the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

the site has been a convent for

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

conventuals. In its

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (german: Backsteingotik, pl, Gotyk ceglany, nl, Baksteengotiek) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resourc ...

buildings it houses a rich treasure of medieval furniture and high quality works of art: carved and painted altars, sculptures, small paintings for private devotions and embroidered altar cloths and

antependia An ''antependium'' (from Latin ''ante-'' and ''pendēre'' "to hang before"; pl: ''antependia''), also known as a ''parament'' or ''hanging'', or, when speaking specifically of the hanging for the altar, an altar frontal (Latin: ''pallium altaris ...

, some of which are adorned with golden reliefs and pearls.

Literature

* Horst Appuhn: ''Bilder aus Kloster Isenhagen'', Königstein i. Ts. 1989 (= Die Blauen Bücher),

External links

Website for Isenhagen Abbey
Monasteries in Lower Saxony Lüneburg Heath Cistercian monasteries in Germany Lutheran women's convents Buildings and structures in Gifhorn (district) {{LowerSaxony-struct-stub