Kloster Wittichen

Wittichen Monastery

Luitgard, who later founded the convent, was born in Wittichen in 1291. At the age of 12, she entered the beguine convent in Oberwolfach. In 1324, Luitgard moved to the Wittichertal valley and founded a hermitage with 33 sisters.
This hermitage was later recognised as a monastery by Pope John XXII through the mediation of Queen Agnes of Hungary and received the rules of the order of St. Clare. Luitgard showed great love for her fellow human beings and was often so generous that she herself suffered from hunger. She presided over the Wittichen monastery as abbess for 25 years and died on 16 October 1347.
Tradition tells of many miracles at her grave. The greatest miracle, however, took place in the grave itself: When the coffin was opened in 1629, the brain of the deceased was found to be completely intact; neither doctors nor chemists could find a natural cause to explain this.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of believers have made a pilgrimage to Wittichen to pray for strength and comfort. Tip: The Luitgart Festival is always held in Wittichen on the second Sunday in October. After the solemn service in the baroque monastery church, a procession takes place through the Wittichen valley in honour of the monastery's founder. Many pilgrims and believers, flag and costume bearers as well as the Schenkenzell Music Society take part in the procession.
The convent was dissolved during secularisation in 1803. The entire property was transferred to the Fürstenberg estate in Donaueschingen. Only the "Long Building" and the beautiful baroque church remain of the once impressive monastery complex.

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