Ilbenstadt Abbey

The founding of Kloster Ilbenstadt dates back to 1122. Gottfried and Otto von Cappenberg donated their possessions, including Ilbenstadt, to the Premonstratensian Order after meeting Saint Norbert of Xanten. Construction of the basilica and monastery began in the same year. Gottfried von Cappenberg died in Ilbenstadt in 1127 and was initially buried in the parish church before his remains were transferred to the basilica in 1149. Despite the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, during which the monastery and church were plundered and occupied by various troops, Ilbenstadt managed to maintain its Catholic identity. In 1657, the provostry was elevated to an abbey, and in the following decades, a Baroque monastic complex was built. Secularization in 1803 led to the dissolution of the abbey, and the Counts of Altleiningen-Westerburg received the possessions. Part of the complex was demolished in 1819, and the prelature subsequently served as a castle. In 1921, the counts sold the property to the Hessian state.