Engelthal Abbey or St. Mary's Abbey, Engelthal, (; ) is a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

nunnery in the

Wetterau The Wetterau (, ) is a fertile undulating tract, watered by the Wetter (river), Wetter, a tributary of the Nidda (river), Nidda River, in the western German state of Hesse, between the hilly province Oberhessen and the north-western Taunus mounta ...

region,

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, Germany. Engelthal Abbey was a

Cistercian nunnery Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order of the Catholic Church. History The Cistercian Order was initially a male order. Cistercian female monasteries began to appear by 1125. The first Cistercian monastery ...

from its foundation in 1268, until the

secularisation In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

of 1803, when it passed into the possession of the Imperial Counts of Leiningen-Westerburg-Neuleiningen and later in the 19th century was sold to the Counts of Solms-Wildenfels.Zisterzienserinnenkloster Engelthal
/ref>Siegfried R.C.T. Enders, 1982: ''Denkmaltopographie Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Abteilung: Baudenkmale in Hessen. Wetteraukreis I''. Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Hessen. Vieweg, Braunschweig / Wiesbaden, , p. 29 In 1962 it was re-settled by the Benedictine nuns of Herstelle Abbey. The house was raised to the status of abbey in 1965, and belongs to the

Beuronese Congregation The Beuronese Congregation, also known as Beuron Congregation, is a union of mostly Germany, German or German language, German-speaking monasteries of both monks and nuns within the Benedictine Confederation. The congregation is under the patrona ...

of the

Benedictine Confederation The Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict () is the international governing body of the Order of Saint Benedict. Origin The Benedictine Confederation is a union of monastic congregations that nevertheless retain their own aut ...

. Besides the normal Benedictine duty of hospitality, the nuns of Engelthal are also involved in the restoration of ecclesiastical works of art.Abtei Kloster Engelthal (abbey website)
/ref>

References

Cistercian nunneries in Germany Monasteries in Hesse 1260s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1268 establishments in Europe Christian monasteries established in the 1260s Benedictine nunneries in Germany {{Hesse-struct-stub