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How wonderful that the melodies of Gregorian chant have never fallen silent in this monastery! This musical tradition is 900 years old…. The monastery itself is almost as old. The Cistercian abbey was founded in 1245 by Irmgard von Baden as the burial place of the margraves of Baden. This is why the high altar of the abbey church contains the heart of Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm. This margrave was a victorious general in the Turkish wars and therefore became famous as “Türkenlouis”. He died in 1707 and his widow, Margravine Sybilla Augusta, became a great patron of the monastery.
At that time, the monastery had already survived dark times. It was repeatedly harassed by looters and soldiers – Louis XIV also sent his troops to Lichtental in 1689 to destroy it. The village was completely burnt down, but the monastery was spared because the Cistercian nuns had hung the key to the monastery on the finger of the Madonna sculpture in the monastery church. The French soldiers are said to have fled at the sight of this.
After the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the monastery church was remodelled. The overpainting were removed and the simple Gothic style of the early Cistercians was restored.
The monastery was one of the few to survive Napoleonic secularisation. The only tribute it had to pay was to set up a school for girls.
But times are changing: today, boys are also taught in the primary school!
Take a look at the Marienbrunnen fountain. It was built in 1781 and used to be the centre of the monastery’s farm. This spring was used to water the cattle and irrigate the gardens.
Dear guests, I hope you have gained an insight into the cultural wealth of Baden-Baden…and have been able to feel the lifeline of the spa town, our Lichtentaler Allee! The walk with you was a pleasure. Come back again soon! Baden-Baden and its Lichtentaler Allee welcome you at any time!
