Kloster Lichtenthal

The Kloster Lichtenthal (Lichtenthal Abbey) is a Cistercian nuns’ abbey in the Baden-Baden district of Lichtental.

Location and general information

The abbey lies at the end of the Lichtentaler Allee on the bank of the Oos. The model for all Cistercian nuns’ convents is the founding monastery in Cîteaux, Burgundy (Latin: Cistercium).

The triangular abbey complex comprises the Gothic abbey church, the abbey, convent, farm and school buildings, as well as a Marienbrunnen (fountain of the Virgin Mary), a hermit’s chapel and the Fürstenkapelle (Princes’ Chapel), the burial place of the House of Baden, which houses a high altar, several side altars and a Madonna (the so-called “Schlüsselmadonna”, the key Madonna). The abbey courtyard is entered through an imposing gatehouse. In the abbey church, works of art from various centuries can be admired, for example a colourfully painted stone pulpit, a crucifix, a mural of the Crucifixion, a Madonna and Child, choir windows and an artfully carved choir stall.

Alongside the solemn Liturgy of the Hours, the abbey’s nuns, who live in enclosure, devote themselves to religious craftsmanship and to education. The Lichtental primary school is located on the abbey grounds.

Mother Maria Bernadette Hein currently heads the abbey as its 46th abbess. In 2001 she succeeded Adelgundis Seele (1989-2001). The abbey belongs to the Mehrerau Congregation of Cistercians (near Bregenz). The diocese responsible for the area is the Archdiocese of Freiburg.

History

The abbey was founded in 1245 at the instigation of Margravine Irmengard. In 1288 the Fürstenkapelle was built, which until 1372 was the burial place of the Margraves of Baden. The founder, Margravine Irmengard, is also buried here. The choir of the abbey church dates from the 14th century, the nave from the 15th. Towards the end of the 15th century, on the initiative of Abbess Margarethe von Baden, the church was furnished with precious works of late Gothic art. In 1678 the hermit’s chapel was built. The gatehouse at the entrance dates from 1781.

In times of danger, the key to the abbey has since time immemorial been entrusted to the Madonna in the Fürstenkapelle. To this day the abbey has survived every attack unscathed — which is also part of one of the legends depicted in the Trinkhalle (pump room).

Literature

• 750 Jahre Kloster Lichtenthal. 1245–1995. Cistercienserinnenabtei Lichtenthal. Festschrift zum Klosterjubiläum. Self-published by Abtei Lichtenthal, Baden-Baden 1995.
• Pia Schindele: Die Abtei Lichtenthal. In: Freiburger Diözesan-Archiv. Vol. 104 = series 3, vol. 36, 1984, ISSN 0342-0213, pp. 19–166, digitised version at uni-freiburg.de
• Benedikt Bauer: Das Frauenkloster Lichtenthal. Geschichte, Kirchen und Altertümer. Baden-Baden, P. Weber 1896, digitised version at blb-karlsruhe.de
• 750 Jahre Zisterzienserinnen-Abtei Lichtenthal. Faszination eines Klosters. Exhibition of the Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, 25 Feb–21 May 1995, ed.: Harald Siebenmorgen, Thorbecke Verlag, Sigmaringen, 1995, ISBN 3799503021 and Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, ISBN 3923132395
• Die Handschriften der Badischen Landesbibliothek in Karlsruhe, Bd. 11: Die Handschriften von Lichtenthal, described by Felix Heinzer and Gerhard Stamm, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, 1987, digitised version at nbn-resolving.de
• Analecta Cisterciensia, the order’s academic journal - index 1 (1945) – 61 (2011) online on Cistopedia - Encyclopædia Cisterciensis. (Wikipedia article on it)

Web links

• Cistercienserinnen-Abtei Lichtenthal on the internet
• Bernhard Peter: Kloster Lichtenthal in Baden-Baden (on the coats of arms)
• Manuscripts of Lichtenthal provenance on the website of the Badische Landesbibliothek
• On the exhibition: Lucida vallis – Das Kloster Lichtenthal als Zentrum kultureller Überlieferung at the Badische Landesbibliothek in Karlsruhe
• Entry on Kloster Lichtenthal at ORDEN online
• Database Klöster in Baden-Württemberg; Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg
• Wikipedia article on the abbey and its buildings (also a list of the abbesses)