Mariaroth

Mariaroth was a Premonstratensian convent for women that stood in the Konden valley near Waldesch, on land belonging to Dieblich on the Mosel. A hamlet of Dieblich still carries its name today. The site lies where the valley opens towards the river, surrounded by vineyards and steep wooded slopes. Only scattered masonry survives above ground, but the outline of the cloister can still be traced. The convent church once stood on the eastern edge of the enclosure.

The convent was founded in the 12th century by a local nobleman from the House of Schöneck. It belonged to the Premonstratensian order from Floreffe in present-day Belgium. In 1346 Archbishop Balduin of Trier granted Mariaroth a benefice to commemorate the Luxembourg dynasty. By the 16th century the community had dwindled to a single nun, so a master and choir sisters arrived from another unknown house. During the Thirty Years War the buildings were ruined, yet in 1663 a new manor house was built on the site.

Visitors today walk a quiet vineyard path that passes the low grassy mounds of former walls. Three Baroque altars from 1768 and 1774, together with statues of Saint Norbert and Saint Augustine, were moved to the parish church in Niederfell. A small wayside shrine marks the place where the convent church once stood. The valley remains lined with Riesling terraces, and the Mosel flows a few hundred metres away.