Abbey Maria Laach

Maria Laach Abbey (until 1863 only Laach Abbey) is a medieval Benedictine monastery in North Rhine-Westphalia, about 40 km south of Bonn. It is located in the Eifel Mountains, near Lake Laach. It was founded in 1083 and, after the abolition of 1802, restored in 1893 as part of the Beuron Congregation of the Benedictine Order. The massive monastery church of the Virgin Mary and St. Nicholas is one of the top Romanesque buildings in Germany. The church is a three-nave basilica with two choirs, a long east and a shorter west, with two transeptes and a total of six towers: two main above both crossings and two lower ones on either side of the transept. These are square in the east side nave, and round in the west side.

 

Overall, therefore, he adheres to the scheme according to which the imperial domes were built in Speyer, Mainz and Worms. In addition, Maria Laach has a western vestibule (nartex) and in front of it a square cloister (A) with a small inner garden and a colonnade on the inside and outside. The historic stone fountain in the middle dates from 1937. The interior of the church, from which the Baroque altars were removed during the restoration, is relatively simple. In the eastern choir, which was intended for monks, a canopy altar from 1256 has been preserved, and some columns have frescoes of saints from 1491-1512. The church has 6 bells from 1891 and 6 more from 1991. The large organ with 66 registers, three manuals and a pedal is from 1910.