Gommersheim

Title

Gommersheim

Also Known As

Gommerszheym, Gummersheim, Gummerszhem

Dates

Founded 1146; dissolved 1565

Dedication

Mary; John the Evangelist

Affiliation

Arnstein

Medieval Diocese

Mainz

Circary

Wadgassen

History

In 1146, Ludwig III, count of Arnstein, established a house of sisters at Gommersheim as a daughter house of Arnstein. In the 13th century, Gommersheim was a properous community, with perhaps 50 sisters. In 1367, many of the sisters died of plague. This event, combined with broader economic issues and the effects of warfare, caused the community to go into decline. 

Gommersheim was suppressed by Elector Friedrich II in 1565. The last remnants of the monastic complex were torn down in 1882.

Heads of Community

Magistrae

Gertrude, fl. 1205
Gudele, fl. 1347
Elisabeth, ?-1367
Else von Waldmannshausen (or Waltmanshusen), fl. 1447
Apollonia Kessler von Sarmsheim, fl. 1501

Priors

Johannes von Rudenschem, fl. ?
Laurentius, ?-1367
Peter Buengeler, 1516-?

Status

Women's community

Archival Sources

Darmstadt, Hessisches Staatsarchiv

11, U 733 (1516)

11, U 736 (1517)

A 2, 105/1 (1530)

A 14, 3806 (1270)

B 15, 613 (1523)

E 5 B, 2615 - E 5 B, 2619 (13th-18th c.)

F 2, 63/4 (1270s)

Wiesbaden, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv

11, IId 7 (1491-1566)

11, U 196 (1366)

128/1, 61 (1447)

128/1, 894 (1507)

22, in 436 (ca. 1205)

22, in 438 (1347)

Bibliography

Gredy, Heinrich. “Die Prämonstratenser Wüstungen Kloster Gummersheim und Propstei Petersberg.” In Geschichte der ehemaligen freien Reichsstadt Odernheim, 290–339. Mainz, 1883.

Schnabel, Berthold. “"... eine böse neuwe zeytung ... ": das Ende des Prämonstratenserinnenklosters Gommersheim.” Heimatjahrbuch Landkreis Alzey-Worms 50 (2015): 98–101.

Schnabel, Berthold, and Michael Werling. “Gommersheim, St. Maria und Johannes Ev., Prämonstratenserinnenkloster.” In Pfälzisches Klosterlexikon : Handbuch der pfälzischen Klöster, Stifte und Kommenden, edited by Jürgen Keddigkeit, 1:613–32. Beiträge zur pfälzischen Geschichte 26. Kaiserslautern: Institut für pfälzische Geschichte und Volkskunde, 2014.

Image Credit

View of the town of Gau-Odernheim, where Kloster Gommersheim was located, ca. 1640s. Wikimedia.

Files

Collection

Wadgassen

Citation

“Gommersheim,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/589.

Geolocation