Walkenried Abbey

Monastery

Walkenried Abbey (Kloster Walkenried) was a Cistercian abbey located in the village of Walkenried in Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1127 on the southern rim of the Harz mountain range, the remnants of the monastic complex since 2010 are part of the Upper Harz Water Regale World Heritage Site.

The third Cistercian monastery on German territory was founded by Adelheid of Lare (Lohra), wife of Count Volkmar of Klettenberg, under the first abbot Henry I (1127–28); In the 13th century, about 100 monks and more than 200 lay brothers lived in the abbey, which became one of the most affluent and significant Cistercian monasteries in Germany. In 1209 the erection of a new basilica modelled on Morimond Abbey began, supported by Emperor Otto IV. The church, then one of the largest in Northern Germany, and the adjacent cloister were finished in a Gothic style and consecrated by Bishop Siegfried II of Hildesheim in 1290. The Counts of Klettenberg held the office of a Vogt (reeve), which upon their extinction about 1260 passed to the Counts of Hohnstein. When in the mid 14th century plague epidemics depopulated the Harz region, both the mining in the Upper Harz and the agricultural business stagnated and the abbey began to decline. In the early 16th century, the premises were settled by only 12 monks and the abbot. The German Peasants' War brought the monastery to the verge of destruction, when on Easter 1525, a mob of about 800 peasants from the southern Harz region marched against Walkenried. Abbot Paulus (1520–36) and the monks fled, taking the archives with them. The abbey was plundered and the church spire torn down, The demolition of the buildings was stopped in 1817, first comprehensive works to renovate the cloister started in 1876. Since 1977 the premises are managed by the Osterode district authorities; a museum opened in 2006.