Beginen Abbey (Ruin)

In the middle of Schöntal Lake rise the remains of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built between 1543 and 1545. According to older traditions, the Archbishop and Cardinal of Mainz, Albrecht von Brandenburg (1490-1545), had the building erected in the "Tiergarten zu Aschaffenburg" out of gratitude for the care of a sick friend, for the charitable Beguines. The Beguines were pious virgins and widows who led a convent-like life, but were not subject to monastic rules, and probably lived in Beguine houses on the area of today's Schöntal. However, new research shows that Albrecht primarily wanted to ensure the financial and social security of his concubine Agnes Pleß, whom he had already appointed as the head of the Beguines in 1540. After his death, however, the mistress was arrested due to Albrecht's high debts and had to surrender part of her fortune to the Mainz Cathedral Chapter. With the dissolution of the Beguine convent, their dwellings served as municipal plague houses and the church building was left to decay.