Monastery of Woeltingerode
The monastery of Woeltingerode (Kloster Woeltingerode) is an ancient monastery of great importance in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. The monastic complex includes today the monastery church, a distillery, a farm shop with local products, a restaurant and a hotel housed in the former cloister.
About this building
The first Woeltingerode Monastery was founded in 1174 by the Benedictines and functioned until 1188. In 1188, a community of Cistercian nuns settled here permanently and started the construction of the present monastic complex. between the 13th and 15th centuries, the monastery lived its period of greatest splendour. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the monastery was Catholic in some periods and Lutheran in others. Its baroque character derives from its reconstruction in 1676, after it had been consumed by fire.
The distillery was built in 1682. The distillery still produces a wide variety of liqueurs according to the old monastery recipes.The best way to discover its history and the local spirits is with a guided tour that includes a tasting of several of its liqueurs.
After the secularisation of 1803 and 1806, the religious community left the complex, which would be used for various purposes in the following decades. It is currently managed by the Hanover Monastery Chamber.
