Rupertsberg

Saint Rupert of Bingen founded a small hilltop settlement beside the Nahe where he and his mother Bertha lived in the early 8th century. The hill, called Rupertsberg, stands where the Nahe meets the Rhine near Bingen. After Rupert’s early death at twenty, the place became a modest pilgrimage site where travellers sought his protection.

In the 12th century Saint Hildegard of Bingen chose Rupertsberg for her first convent. She bought the land with help from the dean of Mainz and Count Bernhard of Hildesheim. The chapel was consecrated in 1152 by Archbishop Henry of Mainz, and charters were drawn up in 1158 by Archbishop Arnold. By 1171 Archbishop Christian granted tax relief to the nuns. The convent survived until 1632, when it was destroyed in the Thirty Years’ War.

Today the wooded hill still carries the name Rupertsberg. A modern chapel on the Rochusberg holds relics brought back from Eibingen in 1814. Visitors walk quiet paths where Hildegard once walked, and the view across the Rhine valley recalls the spot where Rupert and his mother once lived.