Kloster Marienstein

The convent was founded around 1460 at the initiative of Eichstätt Prince-Bishop Johann III von Eych, who enabled six young women from the burgher class to lead a communal spiritual life according to the Windesheim Reform. Under the leadership of Walburga Eichhorn, a dyer's daughter from Eichstätt, the women initially settled in the city under the guidance of the Dominicans, before moving west of Eichstätt to the hamlet of "staingrub." This location, in reference to their patroness Mary, developed into the name "Maria-stain," today's Marienstein. In 1469, Bishop Wilhelm von Reichenau confirmed a chapel and a house for the sisters under this name. Construction of the convent began in 1470 and was consecrated a year later. The convent, which adopted the Rule of Saint Augustine and the white habit, was subsequently under the care of the neighboring Augustinian Canons' Abbey Rebdorf. Walburga Eichhorn was appointed the first prioress in 1471. The convent experienced a period of growth and was considered economically stable by the end of the 16th century. On average, about 40 women lived there, including canonesses, lay sisters, novices, and students. Despite a flourishing period in asceticism and literature, the Peasants' War and the Reformation brought unrest. The convent repeatedly took in expelled women's convents, but also had to seek refuge in the episcopal city itself in 1546. A severe trial was the Thirty Years' War, when Swedish troops plundered and set fire to the church and convent on February 7, 1634. The nuns were able to escape to Willibaldsburg. Reconstruction began under Prioress Klara Staiger, who kept an important diary, and was completed in 1669 under Prioress Agnes Sartor. In the course of secularization, the convent was secularized in 1806 and dissolved in 1832. The convent church "Maria Heimsuchung" was closed and cleared out in 1833, and the last sisters left in 1836. In 1838, it was sold to private individuals who demolished large parts of it.

The former Marienstein Convent is located in the district of the same name in Eichstätt, Bavaria, Germany, at an elevation of approx. 398 m above sea level.

The deconsecrated convent church was reopened in 1842 as the filial church of St. Anna for services of the Marienstein community, renovated and re-consecrated in 1843. The priory building, featuring stucco, a ceiling fresco "Maria Hilf" (around 1720), and coffered ceilings, was renovated in 2002. Despite the demolitions, the former convent complex, including the gatehouse and farm buildings, is still recognizable as a coherent group of buildings.

• Willibaldsburg (castle, approx. 462 m away)
• Kloster Rebdorf (sacred building, approx. 642 m away)
• Residenz Eichstätt (residence, approx. 1479 m away)
• Dom zu Eichstätt (sacred building, approx. 1501 m away)