Augustinerchorfrauenstift Berich an der Eder

The monastery was founded in 1196 by the nobleman Engolf, Count of Battenberg, initially as a Benedictine convent. In the same year of its foundation, it received protection from Archbishop Konrad I of Mainz, and a confirmation by King Philip followed in 1205. The complex was situated on a narrow hill on the north bank of the Eder, southwest of Waldeck Castle. The Gothic monastery church was constructed in the 13th century. The monastery served to provide for unmarried noble daughters and received numerous donations for this purpose, such as the transfer of farms and a mill by Tammo von Beltershausen in the 13th century or the gift of lands by Knight Otto Hund in the 14th century. In the 15th century, signs of decline led to a reform in 1463: the monastery was converted into an Augustinian Canonesses' foundation and affiliated with the Windesheim Congregation. Following the introduction of the Reformation in Waldeck, the monastery was dissolved in 1566 after the death of the last prioress. It passed into the possession of the Counts of Waldeck and was initially used as a farm. From 1577, the income supported a gymnasium in Korbach. In 1753, the village of Berich was established on the site of the monastery, but it had to be abandoned between 1908 and 1914 due to the construction of the Eder Dam and subsequently submerged in the lake. The former monastery church was used as an evangelical church from 1544. Between 1912 and 1914, it was partially dismantled and rebuilt in a shortened form in Neu-Berich, a newly founded village. The late Gothic Marian altar, dating from around 1520, is now located in the rebuilt church in Neu-Berich.

The former Berich Monastery was located in the present-day district of Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany, at an elevation of approximately 243 m above sea level. Its original location is now submerged by the Edersee.

The ruins of Berich Monastery are now submerged in the Edersee and are only visible during extremely low water levels. A part of the former monastery church was rebuilt in Neu-Berich and serves there as an evangelical church.

• Waldeck Castle (Castle, approx. 1736 m away)
• Bring Ruin (Edertal) (Ruin, approx. 3142 m away)
• Ober-Werbe Monastery Ruin (Sacred building, approx. 5012 m away)
• Selbach Castle (Castle, approx. 5605 m away)