Altenberg Monastery on the Lahn, clearly visible above the river and the road, was founded in the 12th century as a monastery for Premonstratensian nuns. Its role was significant during the 70-year term of office of Gertrud, a daughter of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia. During this time, the church and monastery buildings were built. The choir nuns, who were mostly noble, brought their dowries into the community. This meant that the monastery had sufficient financial resources for the construction and splendid furnishings of the early Gothic church. After the Reformation, the monastery remained in the hands of the Premonstratensian Order thanks to skilful diplomacy and was a Catholic enclave in the midst of the Protestant environment until the beginning of the 19th century. As a result of Napoleon's reorganization of the German states, Altenberg Monastery was transferred to the noble House of Solms as compensation for lost territories to the left of the Rhine.
The Counts of Solms-Braunfels took possession of the buildings and church treasure and distributed the art objects to other places in their extended family. This is how parts of the Altenberg nuns' altar can be found in Braunfels (shrine top), Frankfurt (wing panels) and Munich (Madonna sculpture). An arm reliquary of Saint Elisabeth is in Bendorf, a piece of clothing in Trier and the original stained glass windows in Erbach / Odenwald. Ceilings and parapet paintings from Altenberg can be seen in the Reformed Church in Oberbiel. The remaining art treasures of the monastery church are nevertheless worth a visit. After the convent was dissolved, the Protestant community of Oberbiel used the monastery church. In 1883, the hereditary burial ground of the House of Solms was renewed and the deceased members of the royal family were buried here. A Protestant children's home moved into the convent buildings. In 1952, the monastery buildings were destroyed down to their foundations in a catastrophic fire. The church and the gatehouse were spared. Reconstruction began the following year, as the deaconesses of the Königsberg motherhouse found a new home here after being expelled from East Prussia. The deaconesses spent their final years in the nursing rooms until 2010.