Eberbach Abbey

The history of Eberbach Abbey began before 1131 with a foundation by Archbishop Adalbert I of Mainz, inhabited by Augustinian canons and Benedictines. However, they were expelled, and on February 13, 1136, a convent dispatched by Bernard of Clairvaux, led by Abbot Ruthard, occupied the existing buildings. The abbey church, whose construction began around 1145, was consecrated on May 23, 1186. The Katzenelnbogen family made the monastery their house monastery and, from 1311, used the southern part of the transept as their family burial site. By approximately 1220, the lay brothers' building and hospital were completed, concluding the Romanesque building period. The monastery quickly developed into one of the largest and most important in Germany, serving as a mother house for new foundations such as Schönau, Otterberg, Hocht, and Arnsburg. In its heyday in the 12th and 13th centuries, an estimated 100 monks and 200 lay brothers lived here. The monks were also very successful economically, particularly through viticulture.