Sonnefeld Monastery

The Sonnefeld Monastery is the former Cistercian nunnery in Sonnefeld in Bavaria, Germany. The Klosterkirche (“Monastery Church” in German) is now an Evangelical Lutheran parish church.

The Monastery, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, was founded in 1260 by Henry II von Sonneberg and his wife Kunigunde. The Monastery was at the beginning in Ebersdorf bei Coburg but, after a great fire in 1267, it was moved to Hofstädten. But the Monastery and its surrounding settlement and district adopted Sonnefeld as their names and kept it until 1889, when Sonnefeld and Hofstädten merged to become Sonnefeld. The landlord at the beginning was the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg, Berthold von Leiningen, who tried to stop the foundation and also the advances of the Counts von Hennebergs. The spiritual leader was the Bishop of Würzburg. The settlement was made by the nuns from the Maidbronn Abbey. It included the nearby villages of Frohnlach and Ebersdorf. In 1262, the Abbots of Ebrach and Bildhausen inspected the progress and provided for the recognition of the Order.

The Monastery's founder Henry II was also among the witnesses of the foundation of the Himmelkron Abbey. The Sonnefeld Monastery was Henneberger. Under Abbess Anna von Henneberg, whose epitaph has been preserved, it flourished. The decline began as early as the 14th Century. The number of nuns had risen beyond the economical limits and had to be restricted to 50 people. The provisions for the maidens and widows of the nobles and commoners soon became the focus of the monastic life. Private property became common, contrary to the rules of the Cistercian Order. But the number of recruits decreased. Under Abbess Margaretha von Brandenstein (ca 1460–1503), the Monastery flourished for the last time, because the Abbess had managed the debts and began several construction projects. In 1504, most of the nuns turned against the Abbess, because they wanted to introduce the Claustration again. The Abbott of the Georgenthal Abbey was employed as a Visitor and detained some of the nuns.

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