Walkenried Abbey
| Imperial Abbey of Walkenried | ||||||||||
| Reichskloster Walkenried | ||||||||||
| Imperial Abbey of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||||
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 Former chapter house and abbey church ruins
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| Capital | Walkenried | |||||||||
| Languages | German, Latin | |||||||||
| Religion |
Cistercian (to 1546) Lutheran (from 1546) |
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| Government | Prince-abbacy | |||||||||
| Abbot | ||||||||||
| • | 1127–28 | Henry I (first abbot) | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||||||||
| • | Abbey founded | 1127 | ||||||||
| • | Foundation confirmed by Pope Innocent II | 1137 | ||||||||
| • | Joined Upper Saxon Circle | 1500 | ||||||||
| • | Became Reichsstift | 1542 | ||||||||
| • | Secularised to Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel | 1648 | ||||||||
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Walkenried Abbey (German: Kloster Walkenried) was a Cistercian abbey located in the village of Walkenried in Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1127 on the southern rim of the Harz mountain range, the remnants of the monastic complex since 2010 are part of the Upper Harz Water Regale World Heritage Site.
The third Cistercian monastery on German territory was founded by Adelheid of Lare (Lohra), wife of Count Volkmar of Klettenberg, under the first abbot Henry I (1127–28); the foundation was backed by King Lothair III and confirmed in 1137 by Pope Innocent II. The constituent convent arrived in 1129 from Kamp Abbey in the Rhineland, where Adelheid had stayed on a pilgrimage. The premises were conveniently situated on the Wieda creek and the southern slopes of the Harz mountains. Shortly afterwards construction work of a Romanesque basilica began, which was dedicated in 1137. Two Cistercian daughter houses were founded: Pforta (Sancta Maria ad Portam, 1137) near Naumburg and Sittichenbach Abbey (1141) near Eisleben in the County of Mansfeld.
Walkenried grew rich and acquired lands as far away as the Rhineland and Pomerania. The monks gave much attention to land clearance and development, especially mining, smelting and charcoal works, and also the construction of fishponds. They used the Upper Harz water management system to cultivate the surrounding estates along the Helme river down to Thuringia, which are today called Goldene Aue. In the 13th century, about 100 monks and more than 200 lay brothers lived in the abbey, which became one of the most affluent and significant Cistercian monasteries in Germany. In 1209 the erection of a new basilica modelled on Morimond Abbey began, supported by Emperor Otto IV. The church, then one of the largest in Northern Germany, and the adjacent cloister were finished in a Gothic style and consecrated by Bishop Siegfried II of Hildesheim in 1290. The Counts of Klettenberg held the office of a Vogt (reeve), which upon their extinction about 1260 passed to the Counts of Hohnstein.
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