Fischbeck Abbey () is a convent for

canoness A canoness is a member of a religious community of women, historically a stable community dedicated to the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours in a particular church. The name corresponds to a canon, the male equivalent, and both roles share a ...

es in Fischbeck near Hessisch Oldendorf,

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was founded in 955 by the noblewoman Helmburgis, a relation of the powerful family of the Ecbertiner, on land that had been given to her for the purpose by King

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Francia, East Frankish (Kingdom of Germany, German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son o ...

, and is still a house of canonesses today, although now Lutheran women's convent rather than a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

monastery. Despite later repairs and refurbishments, the cloisters and the church, built mostly in the 12th and 13th centuries, are still basically Romanesque. In the abbey church is a tapestry made in 1583, which portrays the foundation of the abbey in six panels. In the 1950s the author Manfred Hausmann was inspired by the tapestry to write the dramatic piece "Der Fischbecker Wandteppich" (''The Tapestry of Fischbeck''), which has been performed in the abbey church at Fischbeck several times.

Sources

Stift Fischbeck official website
* David Zersen. "Lutheran Convents in Germany." Lutheran Forum. Vol. 48. No. 1, Spring 2014. Monasteries in Lower Saxony Monasteries of Canonesses Regular Augustinian monasteries in Germany Christian monasteries established in the 10th century Lutheran women's convents 10th-century establishments in Germany 955 establishments Religious buildings and structures completed in the 950s {{LowerSaxony-struct-stub