The Rheingau region Mark and I now live in is famed for their Riesling wine, and nearly every weekend has some wine festival or other! Our quest to learn more about the area’s history led us to what was once the the largest and most active monastery in Germany: Kloster Eberbach.

Nestled in the sloping hills of Eltville, this gorgeous 900 year-old Cistercian monastery housed monks and lay brothers who once cultivated the area’s vineyards (the largest in medieval Europe at 300 hectares) and produced their own wine for profit.

Its history is terribly complicated. Long story short, the monks were caught between an overwhelming amount of religious and political power struggles through the years, with the state ultimately taking it over, but some facts I found particularly interesting include: how some of the archbishops of Mainz are buried here, the Swedish army damaged the abbey during the Thirty Year’s War (1618-1648), and during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) the French army plundered their treasures and confiscated much of the farms to use as field hospitals.

Speaking of plundering, one of the statues of the Virgin Mary (1420) that used to be housed here is now on display at the Louvre in Paris! Also interesting- parts of this monastery were used as a lunatic asylum and later as a penal prison in the 1800s.

Moreover, this is where Sean Connery filmed much of his murder mystery, “The Name of the Rose” (1986)! I saw it has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 72%, so definitely going to check it out some point soon.

Furthermore, we ran into a random Lego exhibit here that featured early production Legos on to the modern era – all seemingly guarded by the Kloster’s religious statues. There was also a gigantic collection of Star Wars Legos on display. The juxtaposition between the statues and legos felt a bit surreal.

I definitely recommend a visit if you’re in the area! The Kloster is gorgeous. You do have to pay for parking, but it is reachable by public transit. I did see people hiking their way up from Eltville city center. Closer to the Kloster is a hotel, restaurant, and inside has a wine bar (of course).

I would have loved to do a tour and wine sampling, but English tours are by appointment only. Make sure you call ahead if you want one and are not fluent in German! We still had fun going around ourselves with an English pamphlet highlighting key facts about each of the rooms. There were also English audio guides for those who wanted them.

Oh! A word of caution. There is an old well on the grounds you can visit. It’s in its own little room next to the wine presses, but please watch your head! I’m short, so I didn’t have to duck much, however, Mark slammed his accidentally into the stone (whilst blinded by sunlight/sneezing at the time and was following me). It was quite a painful experience for him.

This is the first blog post I have posted in a long while, and it feels good to sit down and write. This visit to Kloster Eberbach was, honestly, probably our last burst of warm, sunny weather as the season has now changed to fall. Germany these days has been pretty cold, rainy, and dark with the occasional break in the clouds of sunshine. I am told it is only going to become more cold and grey. Writing is a funny thing. I have so much I wanted to write about that I have felt so behind and overwhelmed at the thought of trying, but I understand it takes time and practice to make it a habit.

To be fair, life has been insanely busy and crazy this past year between work and classes- not to mention knowing if we were moving and then the super sudden rush to move. However, now that things are *fingers crossed* finally settling down, I do plan to make time to share about our recent life changes and forays into Europe. Thank you for your understanding!

Until next time,

Steph ❤

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