Mariental Abbey (german: Kloster Mariental), in the present-day municipality of Mariental in Lower Saxony, Germany, 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 ...

monastery founded in 1138, now used and owned by a Lutheran congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick.

History

The monastery was founded by Friedrich II von Sommerschenburg ( – 1162), Count palatine (''Pfalzgraf'') of Saxony. It then was a daughter house of Altenberg Abbey of the filiation of

Morimond Morimond Abbey is a religious complex in Parnoy-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne department, in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It was the fourth of the four great daughter abbeys of Cîteaux Abbey, of primary importance in the spread of the Cis ...

. The initial complement consisted of twelve monks from Altenberg under an abbot (Bodo) from Amelungsborn Abbey. The

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

nunnery of Marienberg in nearby

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage of ...

was subsequently established in 1176. When the Sommerschenburg family became extinct in 1179, Mariental Abbey with its possessions were seized by the

Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to: *Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious *Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau *Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...

duke Henry the Lion. The abbey soon achieved great prosperity: its estates extended as far as Magdeburg, Jüterbog and Braunschweig. In 1232 it established a daughter house of its own, . However, at the end of the 14th century it entered a phase of steady decline. The monastery was dissolved in 1569 as a consequence of the Protestant Reformation. A Lutheran school had been set up in the premises in 1542, operating until 1745. A seminary for the training of teachers was also established here, and this continued until 1773, when it was transferred to Helmstedt. The buildings today belong to the ''Braunschweigische Vereinigte Kloster- und Studienfonds'', while the church has become the Protestant parish church of Mariental.

References

* Friedrich, Ernst Andreas, 1998: ''Wenn Steine reden könnten'', vol. IV. Hannover: Landbuch-Verlag

External links

Mariental

{{Coord, 52.2759, N, 10.9851, E, source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title, format=dms Cistercian monasteries in Germany Monasteries in Lower Saxony Christian monasteries established in the 12th century 1130s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1133 establishments in Europe Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism Lutheran churches in Lower Saxony