Brauweiler Abbey

Brauweiler Abbey, with its Romanesque abbey church (Nikolauskirche), the medieval cloister and the magnificent Baroque abbey buildings from the end of the 18th century, is today one of the most beautiful monastery complexes still preserved in the Rhineland.

The venerable Brauweiler Abbey dates back to the foundation of a Benedictine monastery in 1024 by the Count Palatine of Lorraine Ehrenfried (Ezzo) and his wife Mathilde, a daughter of Emperor Otto II, on their Brauweiler estate.

In 1135, the third building of the church and monastery, which still exists today, began under Abbot Aemilius. The work lasted until after 1200, using parts of the church's predecessor. The four-winged baroque courtyard complex was built from 1780.

After the secularisation at the beginning of the 19th century, the abbey experienced an eventful history: the abbey church was declared a parish church in 1809, whereas the former monastery complex was first used as a beggars' institution, then, among other things, as a labour institution for theFrom 1933 to 1944 it was used for a time as a concentration camp and prison for the Cologne Gestapo, and from 1969 to 1978 as a specialist clinic for psychiatry and neurology for the regional association (regional hospital). With the closure of the state hospital, the buildings were handed over to the cultural department of the Rhineland Regional Association and extensive renovation work began.