Schönau Abbey

Schönau Abbey stands in the Odenwald hills near Heidelberg, where a Cistercian monastery was founded in 1142 by Burchard II von Asorn, Prince-Bishop of Worms, with monks from Eberbach Abbey. The Counts Palatine of the Rhine became its patrons, and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa granted its protection to his half-brother in 1156. Around 1190 the abbey absorbed the Premonstratensian house at Bebenhausen as a daughter house. After the Reformation the buildings were dissolved in 1558 and turned into housing for Huguenot refugees from Wallonia in 1562. The site became a burial place for the Staufen family by the late 12th century. Conrad of Hohenstaufen, Count Palatine of the Rhine, was buried there in 1195, along with his son and both wives. Later counts palatine such as Adolf and Rupert II were also laid to rest here, as were members of the Erbach family in the 14th century. Conrad II, Bishop of Hildesheim, died at the abbey and was presumably buried there. Parts of the medieval abbey survive today. The abbey church dates from about 1230, while the gateway is even older, built around 1200. The former refectory still stands, and the old abbey forge has been restored as the Walloon forge after Huguenot refugees renovated it. These buildings form the core of the settlement that grew up around the monastery.