Herchen Monastery

Herchen Abbey, formerly Herchingen, was a Cistercian convent in Herchen founded around 1247. It existed until its dissolution in 1581.
Around 1247, Countess Mechthild von Sayn founded the Cistercian monastery on the basis of an estate that belonged to her. The monastery was initially under the paternity of Heisterbach Abbey from 1266, before it was under the control of Marienstatt Abbey from 1459 until its incorporation into Merten Abbey in 1581. Later, Augustinian nuns lived there. In 1581, almost all of the convent inmates had died of the plague. On 25 September 1581, the pastor of Herchen also reported the death of the abbess Margaretha von Driesch to the Marienstatt abbot Gottfried von Drolshagen. During the visitation of the monastery, it was found that the plague had raged among the few nuns still living in the monastery, so that an orderly monastery operation was no longer possible. Only two lay sisters had survived. The budget situation was also tense. The associated Höhnerhof in the parish of Stieldorf, like the rest of the monastery, was annexed to the Merten monastery. With this, the institution effectively ceased to exist. In 1702, the Merten Monastery donated the Antonius Chapel in memory of the lost monastery.

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