Isenhagen Abbey is a convent in Hankensbüttel

Hankensbüttel

Hankensbüttel is a municipality in the Samtgemeinde Hankensbüttel in the district of Gifhorn, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 25 km south of Uelzen, and 30 km north of Gifhorn.-History:...

 in the district of Gifhorn in the German state of Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...

. It was founded by the Cistercian order but is now a Lutheran convent

Convent

A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...

. It is managed by the monastic chamber in Hanover

Hanover

Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

.

Origins

The name of the abbey, Isenhagen, is probably derived from its original site next to the River Ise

River Ise

The River Ise is a river in Northamptonshire, England and a tributary of the River Nene.The river rises in the very field that hosted the Battle of Naseby at the north-western tip of Northamptonshire...

 and an area of woodland. It was founded in 1243 as a friary for Cistercians in the present-day locality of Alt-Isenhagen within the town of Hankensbüttel

Hankensbüttel

Hankensbüttel is a municipality in the Samtgemeinde Hankensbüttel in the district of Gifhorn, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 25 km south of Uelzen, and 30 km north of Gifhorn.-History:...

. After being in existence for just 16 years it was burnt down and, in 1262, rebuilt as a nunnery. In 1329 it was moved to Hankensbüttel where it is to this day.

Description

Since the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

 the site has been a convent for Lutheran nuns. In its Brick Gothic

Brick Gothic

Brick Gothic is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northern Europe, especially in Northern Germany and the regions around the Baltic Sea that do not have natural rock resources. The buildings are essentially built from bricks...

 buildings it houses a rich treasure of medieval furniture and high quality works of art: carved and painted altars, sculptures, small paintings for private devotions and embroidered altar cloths and antependia, some of which are adorned with golden reliefs and pearls.

Literature

• Horst Appuhn: Bilder aus Kloster Isenhagen, Königstein i. Ts. 1989 (= Die Blauen Bücher), ISBN 3-78450480-9

External links

• Website for Isenhagen Abbey