Kloster Veßra – Henneberg Open-Air Museum

the visit is worthwhile and very instructive for kids

A very interesting open air museum! Half-timbered houses, a chapel, a mill, a village brewery etc. were brought together from the surrounding area on the monastery grounds. They would have expired at their locations. Everyone found a new location here and was furnished with care and in keeping with the times. This open-air museum gives a wonderful overview!

Opening hours:
May to September from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (open daily)
October to April from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed on Mondays)

Prices (selection):
Adults € 6.00
Children from 6 years, schoolchildren,
Students, severely disabled people and their accompanying person
(upon presentation of the relevant ID) € 4.00
Family card
(2 adults and up to 3 children up to 18 years) € 12.00

Additional Information:
museumklostervessra.de

In terms of architectural history, the former Premonstratensian monastery Veßra is one of the most important Romanesque monuments in Thuringia. It was donated in 1131 by the Count of Henneberg. After the Reformation, the monastery was converted into a domain. The striking towers of the monastery church are still visible from afar, the nave has been preserved as an imposing ruin. Today the facility is used as a museum. Visitors can tour the monastery and domain buildings and delve deeper into the history of the place in an exhibition. An open-air museum shows half-timbered houses from the Henneberger Land.

At the mouth of the lock in the Werra is the former Premonstratensian monastery Veßra. It is one of the few medieval monastery complexes in Thuringia in which both the monastery church and the convent and farm buildings have been preserved. The monastery was founded in 1131 by Count Gotebold I von Henneberg. At first it housed canons and lay brothers as well as nuns. The latter, however, moved to the monastery in nearby Trostadt in 1175. Over the centuries the monastery has been expanded and changed over and over again. To this day, however, large parts of the medieval complex have been preserved - including the cloister and farm buildings, the monastery gate, the approx. 800 meter long monastery wall and the Henneberg chapel, which once served as a burial place for the counts of the same name. Remains of late medieval frescoes can be seen inside. They show scenes of the Last Judgment - a theme often used for funerary chapels. Today the chapel is used as a village church. The monastery church of St. Marien was built as a cross-shaped, three-aisled pillar basilica and was consecrated as early as 1138, just a few years after the monastery was founded. Its two towers are visible from afar. In terms of architectural history, they are particularly interesting because they show the transition from Romanesque to Gothic. This change can also be seen in terms of color. While the lower floors were built from gray shell limestone, red sandstone was used for the upper floors.

Source and more: thueringerschloesser.de/objekt/kloster-vessra