Bursfelde Abbey

The foundation of Bursfelde Monastery as a Benedictine abbey took place in 1093 by Count Heinrich the Fat of Northeim. It served as a burial place and a site for prayerful remembrance for the Northeim comital family and was staffed with monks from Corvey Monastery. The foundation was closely linked to the ecclesiastical reform tendencies of the time, aligning with the ideas of the Cluny and Hirsau monastic reforms. In 1101, the founder Heinrich the Fat was buried in what would become the monastery's west church. His daughter Richenza, wife of Emperor Lothar III, commissioned the construction of the large east choir after 1135. In 1144, the abbey came into the possession of Henry the Lion after the County of Northeim fell to the Welfs. Bursfelde Monastery was dissolved and secularized in 1639. It was dedicated to Saints Thomas the Apostle and Nicholas.

Bursfelde Monastery is situated in Bursfelde, a district of Hann. Münden in the Göttingen region of Lower Saxony. It lies at an elevation of approximately 117 meters above sea level, at the confluence of the Nieme and Weser rivers.

The monastery church and the monastic estate, which covers an area of approximately 300 hectares, belong to the General Hanoverian Monastic Fund, administered by the Klosterkammer Hannover. The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover is the legal entity responsible for the Bursfelde Monastery Spiritual Centre.

• Bramburg Castle Ruin (Castle, approx. 2949 m away)
• Veckerhagen Castle (Castle, approx. 5484 m away)
• Löwenhagen Castle (Castle, approx. 5947 m away)
• Sababurg (Castle, approx. 6055 m away)