Wienhausen Abbey

Wienhausen Abbey, near Celle in Lower Saxony, is a Lutheran women’s convent that was originally a Cistercian nunnery until the Reformation. It is notable for its medieval artworks, Gothic tapestries, and the oldest known eyeglasses.

History

Founded around 1230 by Agnes von Landsberg, daughter-in-law of Henry the Lion, the convent replaced an earlier foundation at Nienhagen. It was confirmed in 1233 by Bishop Konrad II of Hildesheim, who transferred to it the local parish church and tithes. Though following the Cistercian rule, its ties to the order were loose.

In 1469, reforms from the Windesheim Congregation were imposed, leading to stricter discipline and the removal of Abbess Katharina von Hoya. The Reformation reached the convent in 1531, when Duke Ernest of Brunswick-Lüneburg forcibly converted it into a Lutheran Damenstift (house for unmarried noblewomen). Protestant leadership was established in 1587, and by 1616 the community had abandoned Cistercian dress, though Catholic sympathies lingered.

Architecture and Art

The abbey preserves Brick Gothic buildings, including convent ranges, a cloister, and a church combining Romanesque and Gothic sections. The Gothic nuns’ chapel, completed in the 14th century, is decorated with extensive biblical imagery. Renovations in 1953 uncovered devotional objects and the world’s oldest rivet spectacles.

Wienhausen also holds a major collection of Gothic tapestries, displayed annually after Pentecost, with themes ranging from saints’ lives to the legend of Tristan and Isolde.

Today

The abbey is part of the Lüneburger Klöster, Lutheran women’s convents maintained by the Monastic Chamber of Hanover, which oversees their estates and cultural heritage.

Address
An der Kirche 1, Wienhausen, Celle, Germany

Established
c. 1230