Einsiedel

Title

Einsiedel

Also Known As

Elisabethzell, Rieneck, S. Elisabeth in Spassardo, Spessart

Dates

Founded 1295; dissolved 1803

Dedication

Elizabeth

Affiliation

Oberzell

Medieval Diocese

Würzburg

Circary

Ilfeld

History

In 1292, Ludwig and Heinrich von Rieneck and Ulrich von Hanau gave the chapel of St. Elizabeth near Rieneck to the Premonstratensian abbey of Oberzell in 1292. The community of Einsiedel grew up around it. The foundation was renewed by Adelheid von Hohenlohe-Brauneck, widow of Gerhard IV, count of Rieneck.

Einsiedel appears to have become a grange by the second half of the 14th century. Some of the property was sold in 1538, and its chapel fell into ruin after the Reformation. In the early 17th century, the site became associated with witchcraft accusations.

Status

Women's community

Archival Sources

Wertheim, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Abt. Staatsarchiv Wertheim

R-K Nr. 5915 (1717; plan)

Bibliography

Enders, David. “Ein gräflicher Stützpunkt im Spessart: hochmittelalterlicher Straßenposten und Kloster Elisabethenzell: Stadt Rieneck, Landkreis Main-Spessart, Unterfranken.” Das archäologische Jahr in Bayern, 2016, 117–19.

Flachenecher, Helmut. “Prämonstratenser im Spessart: zur Geschichte der monastischen Gemeinschaft an der Elisabethenkapelle (‘Einsiedel’).” Jahrbuch für fränkische Landesforschung 81 (2021): 1–15.

Rosmanitz, Harald. “Rodungsinsel, Kloster, Raststation: die Ausgrabungen des hochmittelalterlichen Klosters Elisabethenzell.” Bayerische Archäologie 1 (2014): 44–47.

Rosmanitz, Harald, and Kathrin Wrobel. “Archäologie an der Straße: die Ausgrabungen im Kloster Elisabethenzell bei Rieneck.” Beiträge zur Geschichte der Stadt und des Raumes Lohr 2 (2013): 9–42.

———. “Ausgrabungen in der Klosterwüstung Elisabethenzell: Stadt Rieneck, Landkreis Main-Spessart, Unterfranken.” Das archäologische Jahr in Bayern, 2013, 138–40.

Spessartprojekt: Die Europäische Kulturlandschaft Spessart. “Das Kloster Elisabethenzell,” 2019. https://www.spessartprojekt.de/forschung/ausgrabungen/das-kloster-elisabethenzell/.

Image Credit

Remains of Kloster Einsiedel, 2018. Wikimedia.

Files

Collection

Ilfeld

Citation

“Einsiedel,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/378.

Geolocation