Mariensee Monastery Museum

The Protestant Mariensee Convent is located north of Hanover. For 800 years, it has been a place of spiritual life for women. Founded around 1207 as a women’s convent governed by the Cistercian Rule, the community adopted the Lutheran confession during the Reformation. The simple, light-filled convent church, which has been preserved from the time of its founding, and the imposing quadrangle of the 18th-century convent building, the austere architecture of the cloister, and the lush splendor of the blooming gardens—contrasts that tell of the eventful history of the Mariensee Convent while simultaneously exuding a deep sense of tranquility. A museum within the monastery provides information on the history of women’s monasteries in Lower Saxony.

The monastery is one of the five Calenberger monasteries and is part of the General Hanover Monastery Fund, a foundation administered by the Hanover Monastery Chamber.