Landmarks and Wineculture Details

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Marienthal Monastery: A Modern Estate in Historical Surroundings

Höhepunkte der Weinkultur: Ahr

Marienthal, the oldest monastery in the Ahr River Valley, was founded in 1137 near Dernau. In its heyday, it was run by Augustinian nuns, whose life was anything but easy.

Chronicles record strife and legal battles with neighboring communities. The nuns also had to cope with frequent flooding by the Hubach, a small tributary of the Ahr. The monastery housed seven workshops, among them a distillery and a guest house – and, of course, “wine gardens.” Today, life flourishes again within the old walls of the ruins. In 2004, a group of winemakers from Marienthal and vicinity bought the former state-owned property and restored it to a private wine estate.

The nuns of Marienthal Monastery held out through most of the Thirty Years’ War, until 1646, when Swedish troops ransacked it. In the same year, it was burned down by French troops and not rebuilt before 1699. The garden was enlarged and even adorned with a garden pavilion that has survived to this day. The final end came with French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, when all church properties were secularized in the aftermath of his conquests in Germany. The monastery buildlings were sold and its church fell into ruin. At the time of its dissolution, the monastery had employed a cooper and journeymen as well as “four servants of viticulture” – so the ancient chronicles tell.

Wine was still made, although owners came and went. In 1910, one of them errected a huge manor. Shortly thereafter, it was purchased by the local railroad company to serve as their administrative headquarters. In 1925, the property was incorporated into the Prussian State Wine Domains. In 1952, part of the estate’s 19 hectares (47 acres) was converted into one of the state of Rheinland-Pfalz’s experimental stations to breed new grape varieties. In 2004, the property was acquired by a consortium – the Mayschoss-Altenahr and Dagernova cooperative wineries and private wine estates Brogsitter and Meyer-Näkel – that has infused the 12th-century surroundings with new life as a modern wine estate.



Contact

Weingut Kloster Marienthal

Klosterstraße 3-5
53507 Marienthal

Phone : +49 2641 98060
mail[at]weingut-kloster-marienthal(dot)de

Opening Time

Mai - Oktober
Daily from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.,
incl. Sundays and holidays

November - April
Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Weekends and holidays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.


Recommendations for hotels and restaurants

Hotel Lochmühle

Ahr-Rotweinstraße 62-68
53508 Mayschoß

Phone : +49 2643 / 808 - 0
info[at]lochmuehle-hotel(dot)de
www.hotel-lochmuehle.de

Hotel Haus Appel

Rotweinstraße 1-3
53506 Rech

Phone : +49 2643 / 807 - 0
info[at]hausappel(dot)de
hausappel.de

Jagdhaus Rech Hotel & Restaurant

Bärenbachstraße 35
53506 Rech

Phone : +49 2643 / 8484
info[at]jagdhaus-rech(dot)de
www.jagdhaus-rech.de

Hotel Weinhaus Kläs & Sohn

Ahr-Rotweinstraße 50
53508 Mayschoß

Phone : +49 2643 / 1657
info[at]weinhaus-klaes(dot)de
weinhaus-klaes.de/

Hofgarten Dernau Gutsschenke Meyer-Näkel

Bachstraße 26
53507 Dernau

Phone : +49 2643 / 1540
willkommen[at]hofgarten-dernau(dot)de
www.hofgarten-dernau.de

Winzer Lounge

Schmittmannstraße 1b
53507 Dernau

Phone : +49 2643 / 900 994
kontakt[at]winzerlounge(dot)de
www.ferienwohnungen-dernau.de

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