Michaelstein Abbey

The origins of the complex date back to 956, when a hermitage of Liutbirg, dedicated to Saint Michael, was documented at what is now Volkmarskeller. In 1139, Quedlinburg Abbess Beatrix II initiated the founding of a monastery, which was moved to its current location in Michaelstein a few years later. The monastery experienced an economic boom due to its growing possessions. In 1525, the complex was devastated by rebellious peasants. The last Catholic abbot resigned in 1543, and the monastery came into the possession of the Counts of Blankenburg, who served as Protestant abbots. After the death of the last count in 1599, Blankenburg, along with the monastery, passed to the Dukes of Brunswick. During the Thirty Years' War, from 1629 to 1631 and again from 1636 to 1640, Cistercian monks returned to Michaelstein. From 1690, the Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg used the property first as a school and later for economic purposes. Between 1717 and 1808, it housed a seminary for preachers. In 1880, a breeding facility for trout, char, and loach was established here. Following expropriation during the land reform in 1945, the monastery estate was divided.