Marienschloss Abbey (german: Kloster Marienschloss) is a former

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 ...

nunnery 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 C ...

in Rockenberg, a town in Hesse, Germany. It is now used as Rockenberg Prison (german: Justizvollzugsanstalt Rockenberg).

History

It may have been preceded on the site by a hermitage dedicated to nursing.Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen, Heinz Wionski: ''Kulturdenkmäler in Hessen. Wetteraukreis II. Teilband 2: Altkreis Friedberg, Friedberg-Wöllstadt. (= Denkmaltopographie Bundesrepublik Deutschland)''. Theiss, Stuttgart 1999, , pp. 946–948
online
The nunnery was founded on 30 April 1338 Sir Johann von Bellersheim and his wife Gertrude, called Gezele von Düdelsheim.Kultur- und Geschichtsvereines Oppershofen e.V.@: Marienschloss
/ref> Its monastery church was consecrated to St Mary and St John the Baptist on 1 November 1339 and in 1342

Pope Innocent VI Pope Innocent VI ( la, Innocentius VI; 1282 or 1295 – 12 September 1362), born Étienne Aubert, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 December 1352 to his death in September 1362. He was the fifth Avignon pope a ...

incorporated the monastery into the Cistercian order and made it subordinate to

Arnsburg Abbey Arnsburg Abbey (German: Kloster Arnsburg) is a former Cistercian monastery near Lich in the Wetterau, Hesse, Germany. It was founded by monks from Eberbach Abbey in 1174. Although heavily damaged in the Thirty Years' War it was rebuilt later in th ...

.Alexander F. Fiolka: ''675 Jahre Marienschloß. Vom Zisterzienserinnenkloster zur Justizvollzugsanstalt 1338 bis 2013'' (= ''Beiträge zur Klostergeschichte, Heft 5''). Kultur- und Geschichtsverein Oppershofen e.V., Rockenberg 2013, p. 18 During the 14th and 15th century it was assigned lands.Georg Wilhelm Justin Wagner: "Die Cisterzienserinnen zu Marienschloss". In: ''Die vormaligen geistlichen Stifte im Großherzogtum Hessen. Band 1: Provinz Starkenburg und Oberhessen''. Darmstadt 1873, pp. 210–217
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Monastic discipline declined under Abbess Lucia von Wiesen and so in 1466 bishop

Adolph II of Nassau Adolph II (or III) of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein (German: Adolf II. von Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein) (c. 1423 – 6 September 1475) was Archbishop of Mainz from 1461 until 1475. Adolph was a son of Count Adolph II of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein. In 14 ...

replaced almost all the nuns and installed a new abbess. In 1535 the Protestant Reformation was introduced to Rockenberg - the monastery remained Catholic but the abbess was patron to the town's parish church and appointed tolerant Protestant pastors. In 1544 the Diet of Speyer assigned the nunnery to

Emperor Charles V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) ...

and in 1581 it passed to the Electorate of Mainz. Oppershofen and Rockenberg became Catholic again in 1602-1603 due to the Counter Reformation and the abbey undertook major rebuilds from 1606 to 1619. However, it was badly looted several times soon afterwards during the Thirty Years' War and many monastery buildings were partially destroyed.Fiolka, ''675 Jahre Marienschloss'', pp. 41–42 These were initially repaired after the war - the vicar general Volusius reported after a visitation in 1678 that the nunnery was "the poorest

f them F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

but the nuns were the most obedient".Friedrich Kling (ed.): ''650 Jahre Marienschloß Rockenberg. 1338–1988''. Kultur- und Geschichtsverein Oppershofen e.V., Rockenberg 1988, p. 37 It only fully revived in the 18th century with restorations under abbesses Christiane Strebin (holding office 1678 –1724), Franziska Koch (1724–1736) and Antonia Hartz (1736–1774), gradually replacing or redesigning buildings in the Baroque style and extending the cloister. Though the abbey's financial conditions remained modest, a new abbey was completed in 1733, a new provost's house in 1744 and a new Rococo abbey church between 1746 and 1749, though the church's interior was only completed with installation of the new high altar in 1778. The projects led the abbey into major debt and the war years of 1743, 1757 and especially 1792 led the abbey further into decline. It was occupied by French troops in October 1792 and two years later some of its buildings served as an "imperial hospital".Kling: ''650 Jahre Marienschloß Rockenberg'', 1988, p. 43 It was finally taken over by Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse, who forbade religious vows and the admission of novices. It was officially passed to Hesse-Darmstadt in 1803 by the

Reichsdeputationshauptschluss The ' (formally the ', or "Principal Conclusion of the Extraordinary Imperial Delegation"), sometimes referred to in English as the Final Recess or the Imperial Recess of 1803, was a resolution passed by the ' (Imperial Diet) of the Holy Roman Em ...

. The few remaining nuns moved to live with their relatives or to a house next door to Rockenberg's parish church in 1808 before the abbey was dissolved the following year and converted into a

borstal A Borstal was a type of youth detention centre in the United Kingdom, several member states of the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland. In India, such a detention centre is known as a Borstal school. Borstals were run by HM Prison Service ...

and then in 1811 into a prison. It was then converted into a prison for male teenagers in 1939 before ownership passed to the State of Hesse in 1946.Manfred Breitmoser, Alexander Fiolka: ''200 Jahre Strafanstalt. Aspekte zur Bau- und Ökonomie-, Personal- und Sozialgeschichte von 1811 bis 1870''. (= ''Beiträge zur Klostergeschichte, Heft 4''). Kultur- und Geschichtsverein Oppershofen e.V., Rockenberg 2011, p. 115

References

{{Authority control Former Christian monasteries in Germany Cistercian nunneries in Germany Monasteries in Hesse