Two Monasteries in the Rheingau

On October 23, 2021 we took a detour from the Lahn for a different hike, this time in the Rheingau, the hills above the Rhein near Rüdesheim in Hessen. We walked a loop through the forest and vineyards past two monasteries, Kloster Marienthal and Kloster Nothgottes. Kloster means monastery or cloister. The loop is about 11 km (6.8 miles) according to this trail description. We did not track ours, so that is the published figure.

Marienthal and the Blind Hunter

The walk starts at Kloster Marienthal, a Franciscan Wallfahrtsort (pilgrimage site). The legend says a blind hunter followed an image of Mary into the forest here and regained his sight on this spot. A chapel was built in 1313, a pilgrimage church followed between 1326 and 1330, and the Franciscans have looked after the place since 1873.

Through the Forest

From there the path follows the Elsterbach (Bach is "stream") through the forest. Along the way the trees open onto a meadow, with the village of Windeck in the distance.

In the woods we found a Bildstock (a wayside shrine; Bild is "picture," Stock is "post") dedicated to Saint Hubertus, the patron saint of hunters and foresters. The legend says Hubert was a nobleman who loved hunting so much that he went out on Good Friday instead of going to church. He cornered a great stag, and between its antlers he saw a glowing crucifix and heard a voice telling him to change his life. He gave up his wealth, became a priest, and eventually the Bishop of Liège. The same vision is the emblem on every bottle of Jägermeister, which literally means "master hunter."

Haus Nothgottes

Halfway around, the trail passes Kloster Nothgottes. The name is an old spelling of Not Gottes, literally "God's need." It began as a chapel of thanks, became a church in 1390, and in 1622 the Capuchins built a monastery here, where they lived until 1813. Since 2013 it has been home to Cistercian monks from the Vietnamese abbey Chau Son Don Duong, who practice contemplation. The site is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley, which was listed in 2002.

Vineyards in Autumn

From Nothgottes we came out of the forest and into the vineyards. This is Riesling country, and the leaves were turning gold. The whole Rheingau slopes south toward the Rhein, which is why the wine grows so well here.

Above the vines stands the Abtei St. Hildegard (St. Hildegard's Abbey; Abtei means "abbey") in Eibingen. Hildegard of Bingen founded a community of nuns here in 1165, her second foundation. It was dissolved in 1804, and in 1904 Prince Karl of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg brought the nuns back and built the Neo-Romanesque abbey you see in the photo. Benedictine nuns still live here. They sing the daily hours and make wine from these same slopes.

Back to Marienthal

We ended where we began, at Kloster Marienthal, with its white walls and red stone trim.

This was a very different day from the Lahn stages, and a good reminder of how much history there is around Wiesbaden.