Stuben Abbey

The origins of Stuben Monastery date back to 1136, when it was founded as an Augustinian canonesses' convent. A nobleman named Egelolf transferred his property to Abbot Richard I of Springiersbach to enable the establishment of a monastery. A St. Nicholas church was erected. As early as 1137, a large convent of women settled there, its size limited to 100 nuns by Archbishop Albero of Trier. In 1208, Knight Heinrich von Ulmen handed over a valuable staurotheke with particles of the cross and other relics, which he had brought from Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, to his sister Irmgard, then head of the convent. This relic made Stuben an important pilgrimage site.