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Waldsassen

In 1133 Margrave Diepold III of Vohburg-Cham called Cistercian monks from Volkenroda to found the monastery Waldsassen in the woodland close to the middle course of the Wondreb. By clearing the land the monks created new area for cultivation which has been called “Stiftland” up to the present. In its history Waldsassen blossomed and declined. The monastery was closed for the first time when in 1556 the reformational ideas were realized in the Palatine territories. In 1661 the monastery was populated again by Cistercian monks from Fürstenfeld and once more reached its peak in the 18th century. In 1803 the monastery was closed again. In 1863 Waldsassen was populated anew by Cistercian nuns from the Abbey Seligenthal for the first time. Then the state obliged the convent to ‘educate female young people'. M. Laetitia Fech OCist., who was elected fourth abbess by the convent, managed to elaborate a forward-looking draft for operating the nunnery as well as the school. Today the Cistercian nuns run a secondary modern school for girls in the venerable abbey. They also operate a modern guesthouse which conferences can take place in and where you can also find a special convent shop which was opened in 2008. The baroque convent library, which bears the marks of famous German and Italian artists, is an attraction for tourists in the region. Today there are all together eleven sisters in the novitiate and convent, six of whom joined during Mater M. Laetitia's term.