Marienthal Abbey

The origins of the estate date back to around 1150, when Sifridus de Mogelin founded a noble court in Sornzig. The Cistercian convent of Marienthal was founded in 1241 by Siegfried III of Mügeln. A castle chapel already existed on the Festenberg in 1218, belonging to the monastery. In 1243, Bishop Konrad of Meissen confirmed the subordination of the Sornzig parish church and the Mügeln castle chapel to the monastery. Through donations, the monastery expanded its possessions and managed the surrounding villages via the Sornzig monastic office. The Cistercian nuns introduced fruit cultivation here. Margrave Heinrich the Illustrious placed the monastery under his protection in 1252. A fire largely destroyed the monastery in 1278, but reconstruction was financed by indulgences. With the Reformation around 1539/1540, the monastery was secularized and its assets were assigned to the Princely School St. Afra in Meissen. After a period of administration by the electoral school office of Meissen, it was exchanged in 1570 to Bishop Johann IX of Haugwitz of Meissen. He converted to Protestantism in 1581 and received the former Marienthal Monastery as an annuity.