Cisterscapes

Altenberg

Welcome in the monastery landscape of Altenberg

  • Filiation: Morimond
  • Foundation: 1133
  • Resolution: 1803

Altenberg monastery, founded directly from Morimond, is located in the Dhünn valley northeast of Cologne. Its historic cultural landscape is still well preserved today with many elements and structures. Water was of great importance as a driving force for mills and the basis for the fishing industry. The Altenberg farms were of an extraordinary size for that time and were connected to the most important trade route via the Cologne city court.

Altenberg monastery, founded directly from Morimond, is located in the Dhünn valley northeast of Cologne. Its historic cultural landscape is still well preserved today with many elements and structures. Water was of great importance as a driving force for mills and the basis for the fishing industry. The Altenberg farms were of an extraordinary size for that time and were connected to the most important trade route via the Cologne city court.

Augmented Reality - App

Explore the approximately 600 landscape and settlement traces from 17 landscapes and five countries with the Cisterscapes app. The app includes information, images and audio content on all 17 Cisterscapes sites in Europe. Based on maps, Cisterscapes elements from each monastic landscape can be selected from anywhere to learn more. Or use the augmented reality function on site to discover the Altenberg monastery landscape in 3D.

The best thing to do is to scan the appropriate QR code below or click on the button, or alternatively search for Cisterscapes in the store.

Explore the approximately 600 landscape and settlement traces from 17 landscapes and five countries with the Cisterscapes app. The app includes information, images and audio content on all 17 Cisterscapes sites in Europe. Based on maps, Cisterscapes elements from each monastic landscape can be selected from anywhere to learn more. Or use the augmented reality function on site to discover the Altenberg monastery landscape in 3D.

It's best to download the app right away using the corresponding button or, alternatively, search for Cisterscapes in the Store!

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Cistercian Abbey
Altenberger Dom

Das Westfenster – größtes mittelalterliches Farbfenster nördlich der Alpen – wurde zwischen 1386 und 1397 geschaffen. Es war eine Stiftung von Herzog Wilhelm von Berg und seiner Gattin Anna von Pfalz-Bayern. Die prunkvolle Farbigkeit des Westfensters bildete eine deutliche Abkehr von der bis dahin schlichten Ausstattung der Kirche. Gezeigt ist das Himmlische Jerusalem, von unten nach oben sind abgebildet: 16 Heilige in zwei übereinanderliegenden Reihen, 8 musizierende Engel, die 4 Kirchenväter, die Gotteseltern sowie ein Christuskopf, umringt von den Zeichen des Leidensweges.

Die Plastik „Amplexus“ (1986/87) (dt. Umarmung) von Werner Franzen (1928-2014) zeigt Bernhard von Clairvaux und Martin Luther, beide Mönche und Reformer ihrer Zeit, vor dem gekreuzigten Christus. Die Figur steht im Altenberger Dom auch für die gelebte Ökumene vor Ort.

Der Altenberger Dom diente den Grafen und Herzögen von Berg bis 1524 als Grablege. Unter anderem sind hier Graf Adolf II. von Berg – Stifter des Klosters Altenberg – und sein Bruder Eberhard bestattet, der Teil des aus Morimond entsandten Konvents zur Gründung des Klosters war. Auch der letzte Herrscher aus der bergischen Linie, Herzog Wilhelm III., wurde hier mit seiner Gattin Sibylla von Brandenburg beigesetzt.

Für die Fenster des Ostchores, die noch im 13. Jahrhundert entstanden, wurde die nahezu farblose Grisailletechnik verwendet. Einzig die schönen Blattmotive schmücken die Fenster, da die strengen Ordensregeln der Zisterzieniser farbiges Glas beim Bau ihrer Kirchen zunächst untersagten.

Die Orgel des Domes befindet sich im südlichen Querhaus. Sie wurde im Jahr 1980 von der Firma Klais aus Bonn eigens für den Dom gebaut und im Jahr 2005 grundlegend reorganisiert. Mit einem Bestand von 87 Registern und über 6.500 Pfeifen ist sie eine der größten Kathedralorgeln Europas.

Das Denkmal vor dem Westportal des Domes wurde 1998 zum 900-jährigen Bestehen des Zisterzienserordens von Werner Franzen (1928-2014) geschaffen. Es zeigt die vier Benediktinermönche Robert von Mosleme (1028–1111), Alberich von Citeaux (1050–1109), Stephan Harding (1059–1134) und Bernhard von Clairvaux (1090–1153), die als Gründer des Zisterzienserordens gelten.

The abbey formed the centre of the Altenberg monastic landscape and remains a landmark even after its dissolution.
 
Altenberg Abbey was founded from the mother monastery of Morimond in 1133 by a founding abbot and 12 monks. It was the house monastery of the Counts of Berg and was also their burial place. Already a few years after its foundation, the monastery was moved from the hill near Berge Castle to the Dhünn valley. The first monastery church was consecrated in 1160, and the new monastery church in Gothic style was built from 1255 onwards. Altenberg was one of the most important Cistercian abbeys in the Rhineland. The monastery was dissolved and secularised in 1803.

Altenberg Grange
with "Küchenhof" and Marcus Chapel

The current appearance of the farm corresponds to the construction period of the 18th century.
 
Altenberg grange was built in 1752 as an elongated farm building standing parallel to the Dhünn. It lies to the north of the Baroque gate that marked the former main access to the monastic district. Parts of the former gatehouse have been absorbed into its structure.

After the secularisation, the building housed various textile firms under changing owners from 1819 until a fire in 1862. Since about 1900, Altenberg grange has been an inn and has offered guest rooms. Since 1969, the farm has been managed as a family-run hotel and restaurant. It is a listed building.

An den Altenberger Hof grenzt der Küchenhof, welcher vermutlich genauso alt wie das Kloster ist.
Seine Erzeugnisse dienten der direkten Versorgung der Abtei. Er blieb bis zur
Aufhebung des Klosters im Jahr 1803 im Besitz der Zisterzienser und diente der
Eigenbewirtschaftung. Zum Küchenhof gehörten innerhalb der Mauern liegende
Wiesen und Gärten sowie Ackerland in der direkten Umgebung des Klosters. Noch
bis 1982 wurde im Küchenhof Landwirtschaft betrieben.

 

Old Brewery

The brewery was a central economic factor for the monastery's operations and served textile production after 1819.
 
The "Old Brewery House" was built at the beginning of the 18th century. It is a farm building standing parallel to the Dhünn River, next to the baroque southern gate. Previously, the oil and grain mill, the brewery and bakehouse were located here, as well as the Lady Chapel at the entrance to the monastic district. It has been absorbed into the new building from the 18th century and can be read in the masonry. Above the entrance under the north gable is an inscription that names the year 1715. From 1819 to 1887, the building housed, with interruptions, various branches of textile production. The house is a listed building.

Orangery

The orangery is a typical example of the baroque expansion phase of the monastery.
 
In the south of the Altenberg monastic complex is a baroque garden house, which is a listed building. It served as an orangery in the abbot's garden. The orangery was an important fashionable feature in the Baroque period. Such windowed, light-flooded houses were used to winter exotic plants that were sensitive to the cold.
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