cloister with Neuzelle Monastery Museum

Monastery Museum in the Cloister - Neuzelle Monastery

The monastery museum in the late Gothic cloister not only shows the history of the monastery through valuable exhibits, but also its tense interrelationships with the religious and political events of the time in Germany and Europe. The founding period, the destruction by the Hussites in the 15th century, the heyday in the Baroque period up to the dissolution of the monastery in 1817 are brought to life.

The cloister

The cloister and its adjoining rooms were built between 1380 and 1450 and have been preserved in their late Gothic form. Impressive ribbed vaults and wall paintings are examples of the finest Cistercian architecture and testify to the importance of the monastery in the late Middle Ages.

The permanent exhibition

In the permanent exhibition, valuable individual pieces and art objects from the monastery's furnishings as well as digital reproductions illustrate the monastery's history.
The 2018 exhibition features the ordination vestments of Abbot Martinus Graff, which he had made in 1741 with the most precious silk embroidery, and a digital copy of the monastery atlas from 1758, which also contains the original plans of the baroque monastery garden.
Since 2023, the exhibition has been expanded to include a large room in which the history of the monastery after its dissolution in 1817 can be learned more closely using digital applications, interview stations and exhibits.

Visitors can tour the cloister and the monastery museum as part of guided tours or using the monastery app. In addition, the cloister also offers educational museum programs with thematic workshops, which include a guided tour for children and young people as well as practical experience in handling historical materials.