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Altenberg

The abbey of Altenberg was founded in 1133 by monks coming from Morimond, based on a donation of estate made by the Count Adolf von Berg. A first Romanesque church was consecrated in 1145. During the 12th and 13th centuries monks from Altenberg on their part established the monasteries of Mariental, Lekno, Zinna and Haina. Construction of the Gothic church, the well-known “Altenberger Dom”, started in 1259. It was consecrated in 1379. The architecture of the three-aisled colonnade basilica reflects a convincingly clear and elegant structure. The stained glasses make a special treasury of the church, one of the largest coherent remainders of the Middle Ages. Outstanding is the colourful west window, finished before 1397, a masterpiece of medieval arts and a complex theological testimony. Due to secularization in 1803, the Altenberg convent was dissolved and the church decayed, its furnishing in part was stolen or sold. Yet some important works of art have survived like the 16th Century sculpture of the Madonna in the glory, the 15th Century Eucharist shrine and burial monuments of the Counts of Berg. From 1834 to 1847 the church was restored by help of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Consequently he decreed that the Altenberger Dom was to be simultaneously used by Catholic and Protestant Christians. Since 1922 the former monastery buildings has been housing an education center for the Catholic Youth, “Haus Altenberg”.