Neuenwalde Convent

Neuenwalde Convent

Kloster Neuenwalde
Holy Cross Church (left) and the convent building Altes Kloster (right)
Location of the convent within Lower Saxony
Monastery information
Other names	Conventus Sanct(a)e Crucis  (Latin) Klooster Niewohl  (Low Saxon) Kloster Neuenwalde  (German)
Order	Benedictine (as of 1282) Lutheran damsels' convent (as of 1584)
Established	1219
Disestablished	1630, 1648, and again 1811
Reestablished	1634 1684, and again 1816
Dedicated to	Holy Cross (and St. Mary), earlier only St. Mary; additionally Mary Magdalene since the sixteenth century.
Diocese	Archdiocese of Bremen
Controlled churches	Holy Cross Church
People
Founder(s)	Lords of Diepholz
Prior	Veronika von der Decken
Architecture
Functional Status	active
Style	early Gothic
Groundbreaking	1330s
Completion date	1330
Site
Location	Neuenwalde ()
Coordinates	53°40′33″N 8°41′30″E / 53.675946°N 008.691569°E / 53.675946; 008.691569Coordinates: 53°40′33″N 8°41′30″E / 53.675946°N 008.691569°E / 53.675946; 008.691569
Visible remains	Altes Kloster, the western wing of the cloister, Holy Cross Church
Public access	yes
Website	www.kloster-neuenwalde.de (in German)

The Neuenwalde Convent (N. Low Saxon: Klooster Niewohl, German: Kloster Neuenwalde; Latin: Conventus Sanct[a]e Crucis) is a Lutheran damsels' convent in Neuenwalde (), a locality of Geestland, Lower Saxony, Germany.

Since 1683 the convent is owned by the corporation of the Bremian Knighthood and used for Lutheran conventuals and continues to function as such today. It is the only convent preserved in the Elbe-Weser triangle out of a former sample of 14 monasteries. The convent was established as a Roman Catholic nunnery in 1219, and was recorded in 1282 for pursuing the Benedictine observance. The convent relocated twice in 1282 and 1334.

According to the Klosterordnung (monastic statute) of 1684, at times altered and amended, at last in 2004, the convent is owned by the Bremian Knighthood (). The Bremian Knighthood, established by 1300, was formerly the estate of the noble families within the Bremian prince-archbishopric and later the Duchy of Bremen. Its 20 members today are the proprietors of the landed estates registered in 1577 as knightly allods.

The Knighthood committed itself, within the limits of its financial resources, to provide for the funds necessary to fulfill the tasks of the convent. The convent is directed by the president of the Knighthood. The president is the legal representative of the convent, unless he entrusts competences to the prioress.