Kloster Machern

The former Cistercian convent of Machern stands on the left bank of the Mosel, opposite the village of Zeltingen-Rachtig in the Bernkastel-Kues district of Rhineland-Palatinate. Founded in the 13th century, it flourished as an aristocratic Cistercian house under Himmerod Abbey until the French dissolved it in 1802. After decades as a farm, the Baroque complex was restored from 1970 and now draws visitors to its brewery, wine cellar and museum.

The convent’s fortunes rose and fell with local politics and disease. By 1569 it housed eight nuns, but six died of plague within five years. Maria von Metternich guided its recovery from 1574 to 1603, and Maria Ursula von Metternich oversaw a grand Baroque rebuild completed in 1700. Yet by 1793 only six sisters remained, their discipline eroded, and the French authorities closed the house in 1802.

Visitors today walk through a walled 2.2-hectare site that still shows its Baroque core. The former 37-metre church now shelters a grand baroque hall with a stuccoed mirror vault. A restored cloister garden with a flower rondel lies east of the buildings, and the brewery, wine cellar and museum occupy the wings. The Cornelius Chapel is licensed for weddings, while other rooms host events and the local registry office holds sessions here.