Münsterdreisen

Title

Münsterdreisen

Also Known As

Monasteriensis, Monster Dreyse, Münster, Munster by Dreysen, Münster-Dreise, Münster-Treisa

Dates

Founded mid-9th c.; Premonstratensian from 1144; dissolved 1551

Dedication

Saturninus

Affiliation

Arnstein

Medieval Diocese

Mainz

Circary

Wadgassen

History

Münsterdreisen was founded in the mid-9th century as a Benedictine community. In 1144 at the instigation of Friederich II of Swabia and Ludwig III, count of Arnstein, it joined the Premonstratensian Order. The first brothers came from Arnstein. From 1317, Münsterdreisen was elevated to the rank of an abbey. The monastery was pillaged during the Peasants' War in 1525.

In 1551, at the insigation of Elector Friederich II of the Palatine, Münsterdreisen was suppressed. Today the site of the former monastic complex is a farm.

Heads of Community

Priors

Marquadus, fl. 1145
Burkard, ?-1185
Dudo, fl. ca. 1190
Wiricus, fl. ca. 1200
Ulrich, fl. ca. 1200
Rodemar, fl. ca. 1200
Cuno I, fl. 1200
Rembodo, fl. ca. 1200
Johannes I, 1222-1227
Johannes II, fl. 1231
Baldemar, fl. 1251
Friedrich, fl. 1252
Siegfried, fl. 1258
Theoderich, fl. 1271
Volkmar, ca. 1274-ca. 1277
Heinrich I, 1291-1298
Wernher I, ca. 1304-ca. 1306

Abbots

Jacobus I, 1312-1333
Konrad II, 1333-1338
Gerhard, fl. 1346
Dielmann, fl. 1352
Heinrich II, 1353-1376
Konrad III, ca. 1385-ca. 1400
Johannes III Rudolf, 1410-1427
Emmerich, 1431-1433
Heinrich III, fl. 1437
Johannes IV Ney, 1439-1458
Peter I von Dürkheim, 1458-1466
Johannes V von Schmiedburg, fl. 1479
Heinrich IV von Hornbach, fl. 1495
Werner II, ?-1511
Johann (or Jacob?) Bicker aus Gremsheim, 1511-1523

Status

Priory; abbey from 1317

Archival Sources

Koblenz, Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz

Best. 33, Nr. 12288, UNr. 003 (1327)
Best. 33, Nr. 12288, UNr. 007 (1416) 
Best. 33, Nr. 13958, UNr. 014 (1531)
Best. 33, Nr. 20082 (1373)
Best. 56, Nr. 1442 (1530)

Speyer, Landesarchiv Speyer

Best. A 2, Nr. 702, UNr. 6 (1553)
Best. C 38, Nr. 243 (15th-16th c.)
Best. E 2, Nr. 37 (1530)
Best. E 6, Nr. 490 (1532/33)
Best. F 7, Nr. 338 (1312)
Best. F 7, Nr. 350 (1314)
Best. F 7, Nr. 449 (1332)

Bibliography

Becker, Christa. “Inventarien der Klöster Weidas und Münsterdreisen 1553.” Kaiserslauterer Jahrbuch für pfälzische Geschichte und Volkskunde 13/15 (2015): 131–46.

Bücher, Walter. “Münsterdreisen (bei Dreisen): Glanz und Niedergang eines Klosters der Nordpfalz.” Donnersberg-Jahrbuch 3 (1980): 103–7.

Krehbiel. “Münsterdreisen am Donnersberg.” Nordpfälzer Geschichtsblätter 7 (1910): 53–54.

Schaus, Emil. “Graf Ludwig von Arnstein und die Neubegründung des Klosters Münsterdreisen.” Nassauische Annalen 30 (1899): 202–5. https://books.google.com/books?id=_iYjAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA202.

Schnabel, Berthold, and Michael Werling. “Münsterdreisen, St. Saturnius: Frauengemeinschaft, später (Regular-)Kanonikerstift, dann Prämonstratenserabtei: Münsterhof, Gemeinde Dreisen, Verbandsgemeinde Göllheim, Donnersbergkreis.” In Pfälzisches Klosterlexikon, edited by Jürgen Keddigkeit, Matthias Untermann, Charlotte Lagemann, Hans Ammerich, and Pia Heberer, 3:130–52. Beiträge zur pfälzischen Geschichte 26. Kaiserslautern: Institut für pfälzische Geschichte und Volkskunde, 2015.

Image Credit

Site of the former abbey of Münsterdreisen, 2011. Wikimedia.

Files

Collection

Wadgassen

Citation

“Münsterdreisen,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/464.

Geolocation

Item Relations

This Item DependentOn Item: Arnstein
Item: Marienthal DependentOn This Item