Schönau Abbey (Nassau)

Schönau Abbey

Schönau Abbey of Nassau
Monastery information
Full name	Kloster Schönau
Order	Benedictine
Established	1126
Disestablished	Convent: 1606, Monk's monastery: 1802
Mother house	Schaffhausen Abbey
Diocese	Diocese of Limburg
Controlled churches	Parish of St. Florin
People
Founder(s)	Count Robert I of Nassau
Important associated figures	St. Elizabeth of Schönau.
Site
Location	Strüth, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Coordinates	50°8′26″N 7°53′39″E / 50.14056°N 7.89417°E / 50.14056; 7.89417Coordinates: 50°8′26″N 7°53′39″E / 50.14056°N 7.89417°E / 50.14056; 7.89417

Schönau Abbey is a monastery in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Limburg on the outskirts of the municipality of Strüth in the Rhein-Lahn district, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is often referred to as Schönau Abbey of Nassau (because it was founded by the House of Nassau and was located in their lands) or Schönau Abbey in Taunus, in order to differentiate it from the other Schönau Abbey in Baden-Württemberg. This Schönau Abbey is most well known as the convent of St. Elizabeth of Schönau.

Schönau Abbey was founded in 1126 as a Benedictine abbey by Count Robert I of Nassau, the Vogt of Lipporn. The property on which the monastery was built had already been donated in 1117 by Count Dudo-Henry of Laurenburg, Robert’s father and predecessor, to Schaffhausen Abbey for establishment of the monastery. Its Romanesque buildings were constructed between 1126 and 1145, presumably with a three-nave basilica.

At the same time, a nuns' convent was founded next to the monks' monastery. St. Elizabeth of Schönau worked there from 1141 until her death in 1164. Her brother Eckbert of Schönau (died 1184) entered the men’s monstery at Schönau in 1155 or 1156.

Schönau Abbey had grown strong enough economically by 1340 that the city of Frankfurt am Main could promise support through arms and wagons. A Gothic chancel (still extant today) and a chapel dedicated to St. Elizabeth were added between 1420 and 1430 on the north side of the nave.