The Eberbach Monastery near Eltville in the Rheingau region was founded in 1136 by the famous Cistercian Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux as the first Rhenish settlement of his order. It quickly developed into one of the biggest and most powerful monasteries in the Empire. During its blossoming in the 12th and 13th century, about 100 monks and 200 lay brothers lived here. In 1803, the monastery was dissolved, but the complex is still preserved in its essential buildings, which belong to the of Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque style epochs. The basilica and lay dormitory stem from the oldest building phase in the 12th century, while the chapter house or the monks’ dormitory represent the architecture of the High and Late Middle Ages. In the 18th century, buildings such as the monks’ refectory and the converse building were remodelled in a Baroque style and the orangery was built. More information on history and history of art can be found in the Abbey Museum in the north and west cloister wing of the monastery.

Eberbach is one of the few preserved monasteries from Hildegard of Bingen’s time that is also situated very close to her own monastery foundations near Bingen and Eibingen. That is why it is not surprising that she kept in contact with the first two Abbots of Eberbach, Ruthard (1136-1157) and Eberhardt (1158-1165) via letters and probably also in person. The importance of this place for the effects and influences of her work reaches even far beyond her death: Around 1220, Gebeno, the former prior of the monastery, composed the scripture Pentachronon sive speculum futurorum temporum, in which he summarized statements from Hildegard’s books. The Pentachronon, which became a kind of a handbook about the upcoming end of the world, was very successful during the Middle Ages and a key factor for Hildegard’s prominence and after-effect. Eberbach served as a set for the movie „Vision –The life of Hildegard of Bingen“ by Margarethe von Trotta, after already serving as the scene for the filming of the novel „The Name of the Rose“ by Umberto Eco.

In various thematic guided tours and guided tours through the monastery, visitors can learn more about the history and the architecture of the monastery, which also was the biggest vineyard of the European Middle Ages with more than 300 hectares of cultivation area. Today, the vineyards, which are mostly planted with Riesling, are in possession of the Hessische Staatsweingüter (Hessian State Vineyards). There is the opportunity for wine lovers to participate in wine tours and wine tastings in the Eberbach Monastery.