Walsrode Abbey
Encyclopedia
Walsrode
-Middle Ages:986 Foundation of Walsrode Abbey by Count Walo. The first recorded mentionof the town is dated May 7, 986.1383 The dukes of Brunswick and Lüneburg grant Walsrode a town charter.1479 First recorded instance of Walsrode's coat of arms...
, Germany, is one of the historic monasteries on the Lüneburg Heath
Lüneburg Heath
The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...
in North Germany which are collectively known as the Lüneklöster. Today it is a Lutheran convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
that is maintained by the Hanover monastic chamber (Klosterkammer Hannover).
History
The monastery was founded in 986 by Count Wale and his wife Odelint according to a decree by King Otto IIIOtto III, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto III , a King of Germany, was the fourth ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. He was elected King in 983 on the death of his father Otto II and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 996.-Early reign:...
and is by far the oldest in the former Principality of Lüneburg
Principality of Lüneburg
The Principality of Lüneburg was a territorial division of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg within the Holy Roman Empire, immediately subordinate to the emperor. It existed from 1269 until 1705 and its territory lay within the modern-day state of Lower Saxony in Germany...
. Its patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
is John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
.
In 1482 a large part of the monastery was burned down following a lightning strike. In 1626, during the Thirty Years War, it was plundered by Tilly's troops. During the period 1812-1815 the convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
was closed and the monastery occupied by Napoleon for 3 years. Its chequered history ensured that many art treasures and the original structure of the building were destroyed, so that today it mainly comprises buildings from the 18th century, like the well-known Long House (Lange Haus) of 1720. The impressive refectory
Refectory
A refectory is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries...
was an endowment from the last German emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II and his empress.
The introduction of the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
in the 16th century into all six Lüneburg monasteries took several decades.