Germerode

Title

Germerode

Also Known As

Germanride, Germarod, Germenrode, Guemerod, Guermerode, Gyrmenroide

Dates

Founded by 1144; dissolved 1527

Dedication

Mary, Walburgis

Affiliation

Spieskappel

Medieval Diocese

Mainz

Circary

Ilfeld

History

Germerode was founded by 1145 by Rugger II, count of Bilstein. Initially a double house, by the early 13th century it was solely a house of Premonstratensian sisters. Its church was constructed by 1165. The community reached the peak of its economic prosperity and expansion in the second half of the 14th century, a period which was followed by one of economic indebtedness and a decline in numbers.

Germerode was suppressed in 1527, and the property passed to the Landgraves of Hesse-Rotenburg. The community's former church is now a Protestant parish church. The remains of the former monastic complex are now a cultural centre and also house a small Evangelical Lutheran community.

Heads of Community

Prioress

Hedwig von Richinbach, fl. 1353
Jutta Trotten, fl. 1450
Elisabeth von Mornhabe, fl. 1498
Appolonia Flattenn, 1507-1515
Mechtilde von Keudell, fl. 1520s

Status

Women's community

Archival Sources

Marburg, Hessisches Staatsarchiv

Urk. 24 (Finding Aid)

Bibliography

Ganßauge, Gottfried. “Die Klosterkirche in Germerode.” Hessische Heimat 6 (1957 1956): 7–11.

Großmann, Dieter. “Die Klosterkirche in Germerode.” Das Werraland 6 (1954): 39–41.

“Kloster Germerode,” 2024. https://kloster-germerode.de/.

Liedmann, Mareike. Den Baufugen sei Dank - Die Rekonstruktion einer Kapelle in der Klosterkirche in Germerode. Heidelberg: Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, 2017. https://doi.org/10.11588/artdok.00005033.

Metz, Wolfgang. “Kloster Germerode und die Besiedlung des Meißnervorlandes.” Das Werraland: Heimat, Kunst, Dichtung. Vierteljahrsschrift des Werratalvereins 4 (1952): 9–11.

Schilling, Johannes, ed. Kloster Germerode. Geschichte, Baugeschichte, Gegenwart. Monographia Hassiae 16. Kassel: Verlag Evangelischer Medienverband, 1994.

Schmincke, Julius Ludwig Christian. “Geschichte des Klosters Germerode nach urkundlichen Quellen.” Zeitschrift des Vereins für Hessische Geschichte und Landeskunde 7 (1858): 1–27. https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/view/bsb10022280?page=6%2C7.

———. Urkundenbuch des Klosters Germerode. Zeitschrift des Vereins für hessische Geschichte und Landeskunde. Supplement 1. Kassel: Freyschmidt, 1866. http://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/resolve/display/bsb10482312.html.

Thalmann, W. “Die Klosterkirche Germerode im Regierungsbezirk Kassel.” Die Denkmalpflege 11, no. 15 (1909): 120–23.

Image Credit

The former church of Kloster Germerode, 2015. Wikimedia.

Files

Collection

Ilfeld

Citation

“Germerode,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/558.

Geolocation

Item Relations

Item: Welsbach DependentOn This Item