Ebstorf Abbey

Ebstorf Abbey (German: Abtei Ebstorf or German: Kloster Ebstorf) is a former Benedictine monastery of nuns. Today it serves as a German convent, or residence for women, near the Lower Saxon town of Uelzen.

The abbey was founded around 1160 as the Priory of Saint Maurice for the Premonstratensian Canons Regular by Volrad von Bodwede, Count of Dannenberg, and a nephew of Henry the Lion. By founding the priory, Volrad hoped to consolidate his influence over the region. It is mentioned in the records for the first time in 1197. It belongs to the six so-called Lüneklöstern (monasteries of Lüne) which became Lutheran convents following the Protestant Reformation.

After a fire in the 13th century the house was given to the Benedictine nuns of Walsrode Abbey who established a daughter house there, and Ebstorf became a place of Marian pilgrimage (Marienwallfahrtsort). The abbey buildings, dating from the 14th century and built in a North German Brick Gothic style, are fully preserved today, as is the church, which still has the raised nun's gallery. The Propstei (provostry) dates to the 15th century.

In the 15th century the life of the nuns changed, as a result of their being placed under the reforming program of the newly established Bursfelde Congregation, that demanded a stricter way of life.

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