Lucelle Abbey or Lützel Abbey (; ) was a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, 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 Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery in the present village of

Lucelle Lucelle () is a village situated on the Franco-Swiss border. It is divided between the two countries, the northern half (47 inhabitants in 1999) being part of the commune of Lucelle, Haut-Rhin, in the Haut-Rhin department, the southern half bein ...

, in the

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (); Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; , . is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine; its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less pop ...

department in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, but located right on the Swiss border. The name of the original foundation was ''Lucis cella'', the "cell of light". Lucelle was founded in 1124 as a daughter house of Bellevaux Abbey, which in its turn was a daughter house of

Morimond Abbey 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 t ...

. It was dissolved in 1792 during the French Revolution.

Daughter houses

The following were daughter houses settled from Lucelle: * Neubourg Abbey (1130/1131) * Kaisheim Abbey (1133) * Lieu-Croissant Abbey (1134) *

Salem Abbey Salem Abbey () was a very prominent Cistercian monastery at Salem in the district of Bodensee, about ten miles from Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The buildings are now owned by the State of Baden-Württemberg and are open for tours a ...

(1134/1137 or 1138) * Frienisberg Abbey (1131/1138) * Pairis Abbey (1139) * St. Urban's Abbey (1194) Lützel Abbey seems also to have founded a small

Cistercian nunnery Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order of the Catholic Church. History The Cistercian Order was initially a male order. Cistercian female monasteries began to appear by 1125. The first Cistercian monastery ...

, Kleinlützel Priory in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, in about 1136–1138, although there is no direct evidence that they did so or that the women's community at Kleinlützel was Cistercian. In 1264 the foundation was given to the

Augustinian Canons The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religio ...

of Basle. Lützel Abbey regained possession of the premises at the beginning of the 16th century.

External links

*
History of Lucelle/Lützel
Cistercian monasteries in France Buildings and structures in Haut-Rhin 1124 establishments in Europe 1120s establishments in France Christian monasteries established in the 1120s {{HautRhin-struct-stub