Brauweiler Abbey (Pulheim)

The origins of the site date back to the early Iron Age with traces of settlement. Roman finds, including the remains of a villa rustica, of a fortified complex that was destroyed by fire in the 4th century. A wooden chapel is said to have been built here in the 8th century, its remains rediscovered around 985. Count Palatine Hermann I then had a stone chapel erected and a manor rebuilt. Around 991, Count Palatine Ezzo-Ehrenfried and Mathilde, daughter of Emperor Otto II, married here. Mathilde dedicated the estate to the Medardus Chapel. In 1024, Ezzo and Mathilde received relics from Pope Benedict VIII for the foundation of a monastery. On April 14, 1024, seven monks began construction of the monastery, incorporating the chapel. The church and monastery were consecrated on November 8, 1028. In the 12th century, the current Romanesque abbey church of St. Nicholas and St. Medardus was built.