Kamp Abbey (Kloster Kamp), also known as Altenkamp Abbey or Alt(en)feld Abbey (and in English formerly Camp Abbey) was the first

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery founded in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

territory, in the present town of

Kamp-Lintfort Kamp-Lintfort () is a (small) town in Wesel District, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located north-west of Moers. Notable people * Jacob Wiener (1815-1899), medallist and engraver. * Adolf Storms (1919–2010), member of the Waffen-S ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

History

It was founded in 1123 by Friedrich I, Archbishop of Cologne, and settled from

Morimond Abbey Morimond Abbey is a religious complex in Parnoy-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne department, in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It was the fourth of the four great daughter abbeys of Cîteaux Abbey, of primary importance in the spread of t ...

. As the first Cistercian foundation in the region it attracted great endowments and became very wealthy and powerful. It was extremely active in the foundation of daughter houses: :In Germany:

Walkenried Abbey Walkenried Abbey () was a Cistercians, Cistercian abbey located in the village of Walkenried in Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1127 on the southern rim of the Harz mountain range, the remnants of the monastic complex since 2010 are part of the ...

(1129);

Amelungsborn Abbey Amelungsborn Abbey, also Amelunxborn Abbey (''Kloster Amelungsborn''), is a Lutheran monastery in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located near Negenborn and Stadtoldendorf, in the ''Landkreis'' of Holzminden in the Weserbergland. It was the sec ...

(c.1129); Volkenroda Abbey (1131);

Hardehausen Abbey Hardehausen Abbey (''Kloster Hardehausen'') is a former Cistercian monastery located near Warburg in the Höxter (district), district of Höxter in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History In 1009 ''Herswithehusen'' became the proper ...

(1140);

Michaelstein Abbey Michaelstein Abbey (Kloster Michaelstein) is a former Cistercian monastery, now the home of the ''Stiftung Kloster Michaelstein - Musikinstitut für Aufführungspraxis'' ("Michaelstein Abbey Foundation - Music Institute for Performance"), near ...

(1146); Saarn Abbey (1214); Neuenkamp Abbey (1231); Bottenbroich Abbey (1231); Burlo Abbey (1448); and Grevenbroich Abbey (1628); :In the Netherlands: Eiteren Abbey (1342); Mariënkroon Abbey(1382); and Sibculo Abbey (1412). Kamp was largely rebuilt in the 15th century but suffered extensive damage in the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. The abbey was abandoned early in the

Cologne War The Cologne War (, ''Kölnischer Krieg'', '' Truchsessischer Krieg''; 1583–1588) was a conflict between Protestant and Catholic factions that devastated the Electorate of Cologne, a historical ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Em ...

(1583–1588); many of the monks went to the city of Neuss, where they underwent the siege and bombardment of July 1586; another portion went to

Rheinberg Rheinberg () is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. north of Moers and south of Wesel. It comprises the municipal districts of Rheinberg, Borth, Budberg, an ...

, which was the focus of three battles to take the city, the last in 1589. The abbey itself was destroyed by Adolf von Neuenahr in 1586. A small group of monks returned under abbot Polenius (1636–64), but re-construction did not begin until 1683, and the community did not return fully until 1700. The abbey was secularised during the

German mediatisation German mediatisation (; ) was the major redistribution and reshaping of territorial holdings that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany by means of the subsumption and Secularization (church property), secularisation of a large number of ...

of 1802 and the buildings were sold, and mostly demolished. The church was converted for use as a parish church. Between 1954 and 2002 a

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

community resided on the remains of the monastery. The last monk left the monastery in 2010. The abbey site is still known for the terraced gardens and the orangeries.

References

* Geisbauer, G., 2002. ''Kloster Kamp, seine Äbte und Filiationen; Die Kamper Chronik - deutsch''. Kamp-Lintfort: self-published. * Willicks, E., and Geisbauer, G., 2000. ''Kloster Kamp - Geschichte und Gegenwart'', Kamp-Lintfort: self-published.

External links

*
Kloster Kamp
{{Authority control Cistercian monasteries in Germany Monasteries in North Rhine-Westphalia 1120s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1123 establishments in Europe Christian monasteries established in the 1120s Buildings and structures in Wesel (district)