Kloster Wendhusen

Wendhusen Monastery, which can be found in the historic town centre of Thale in Saxony-Anhalt, is still considered the oldest surviving monastery in the state and is a stop on the Romanesque Road in the Harz Mountains. Some parts of the building, which today is characterised above all by the impressive west tower, still date from the Carolingian period. Over the centuries, the monastery not only experienced a multitude of changes, overthrows and even plundering, but was later even converted into a knight's estate. For people interested in the history of the Harz, Wendhusen Monastery is an absolute must.

From the foundation to an important monastery in the Harz Mountains

The foundation in 825 by Gisela, the daughter of Count Hessi, shows that the roots of the monastery go back to the aftermath of Charlemagne. After all, it was he who granted Hessi the office of count over the region of Eastphalia after his subjugation. Inspiration and support were received from the imperial abbey of Herford, which at that time was already one of the most important institutions of its kind in the imperial territory.

Due to the influence of the high nobility, who were always closely connected to the abbey, the monastery quickly gained in importance and in the following years was involved in the founding of the imperial abbey of Quedlinburg, among other things. In general, however, Wendhusen retained its independence and began building a collegiate church and successively expanding the grounds. The residential tower, which still characterises the image of the site today, also bears witness to a fortitude in the sometimes difficult times beginning in the 12th century. As early as 1180, the monastery was nevertheless plundered and devastated for the first time during the conflicts between Frederick Barbarossa and Henry the Lion. However, it was very quickly rebuilt afterwards.

The end with the Peasants' Wars and the transformation into a knight's estate

From the beginning of the 13th century, the importance of the monastery declined, even though it was still one of the most important ladies' monasteries in the region. What exactly happened in the following 350 years is no longer known. What is certain, however, is that the monastery finally fell victim to the Peasants' Wars in 1525, like so many others. In the course of the uprisings, the monastery was looted and finally set on fire and was never able to recover. In the following years, a large part of the grounds fell into disrepair and the ruins were sometimes used as a source of building materials.

The following years were marked by frequent changes of ownership. After the monastery was secularised in the course of the Reformation in 1540, the grounds first passed to the von Weddelsdorff and von Watzdorff families before finally ending up in the possession of Lorenz Steube. Next to the former monastery, the manor was now developed, whose owner families were repeatedly affected by financial bottlenecks over the centuries. This is how the entire property finally came into the possession of the von dem Bussche-Streithorst family at the beginning of the 19th century, who were to keep it until it was expropriated in 1945.

The monastery grounds and manor in the present day

To this day, the remains of the monastery and the neighbouring manor are among the most beautiful and interesting sights in the region. Excavations over the past 30 years have revealed various remains of the former monastery, such as the foundation walls of the former collegiate church, which was removed over the centuries - among other things to build the manor. Today, the grounds house a permanent exhibition in the spirit of "living history". Visitors can not only get an idea of how the nuns lived in those days, but also examine the impressive residential tower, which is still preserved as part of the west wing. The seamless transition into the manor also allows a direct look into the later part of the area's history.