Neubourg Abbey

Coat of arms of the Abbey on a Baroque panelling, now in the St Nicholas Church of Haguenau.

Neubourg Abbey (French: Abbaye de Neubourg or du Neubourg; German: Kloster Neuburg; Latin: Novum Castrum) is a former Cistercian monastery in Alsace, France, in Dauendorf, about 9 km west of Haguenau in the Bas-Rhin department.

History

Neubourg Abbey was founded not earlier than 1130 and not later than 1133^[1] by Count Reinhold of Lützelburg as a daughter house of Lützel Abbey of the filiation of Morimond; it was also settled from Lützel. In its turn Neubourg was the mother house of Maulbronn Abbey (founded 1139) and Herrenalb Abbey (founded 1147).^[2]

Between the 14th and 17th centuries the abbey was destroyed and rebuilt several times. It was suppressed in 1790 during the French Revolution.

Inquisition

Not long after it was founded, the abbey was the subject of an inquisition by Frederick Barbarossa, who forced the monks to renounce their claims to the valuable Hohenstaufen Forest. ^[3]

Buildings

The church was dedicated in 1158. It was rebuilt in 1758, but was entirely destroyed in 1818 along with virtually all of the monastic building complex. There are very few remains: a Baroque gatehouse of 1744; a mill; and part of the precinct wall. Some Rococo items from the abbey church (the choir stalls, the organ case, statues of saints) are to be found in the nearby St. Nicholas' church, Haguenau.

Sundial

The abbey possessed a unique 24-faced gnomoonic 18th century sundial, which was relocated to Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey in 1935. ^[4]

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  Sundial, now at St Odile
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  Fountain
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  Organ case

Notes

1. the date most often given is 1131
2. It also had supervision of Baumgarten Abbey, although that had been founded by Beaupré Abbey
3. Karl Leyser (1994). Communications and Power in Medieval Europe: The Gregorian Revolution and Beyond. Continuum. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
4. "Cadran solaire du Mont Sainte-Odile à Ottrot (67)". Sciences et informatique. 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2014-01-22.

References

• Peugniez, Bernard, nd: Routier cistercien (2nd ed., p. 11). Moisenay: Éditions Gaud. ISBN 2-84080-044-6
• Schneider, Ambrosius, 1986: Lexikale Übersicht der Männerklöster der Cistercienser im deutschen Sprach- und Kulturraum, in: Schneider, Ambrosius; Wienand, Adam; Bickel, Wolfgang; Coester, Ernst (eds.): Die Cistercienser, Geschichte – Geist – Kunst, 3rd edn., p. 679). Cologne: Wienand Verlag. ISBN 3-87909-132-3

External links

• Dauendorf Community website: page on Neubourg Abbey (French)

Coordinates: 48°50′00″N 7°41′00″E / 48.83333°N 7.68333°E