Kloster Zella

The exact founding date of the Benedictine monastery on the southern edge of the Eichsfeld is not recorded but is presumed to be around 1100, possibly initially as a double monastery. However, the earliest written records from 1215 only mention a convent for women. A major fire in 1649, during the Thirty Years' War, destroyed all historical documents that had previously been moved to Mühlhausen for safekeeping. In 1525, during the German Peasants' War, the monastery was plundered and set on fire twice, rendering it uninhabitable. After lengthy lawsuits for damages, reconstruction took place, with a large part of the current building fabric dating from after 1603 and the period after the Thirty Years' War. The close ties to Kloster Gerode in the northern Eichsfeld shaped the period after the Reformation. In 1810, Kloster Zella, then inhabited by 22 nuns, was secularized by a decree of the Prussian government and transferred to private ownership. This led to various ownership structures and conflicts, including disputes over the pilgrimage to Annaberg, which was suppressed from 1837 onwards. In March 1848, an uprising of small farmers and day laborers stormed the monastery estate to rid themselves of their debts.

Kloster Zella is situated in the Unstrut-Hainich region in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. It lies between the villages of Lengenfeld unterm Stein and Struth, which are now part of the town of Dingelstädt in the southern Eichsfeld.

From 1948 to 2023, the monastery housed an Evangelical retirement and nursing home. Since March 2024, this institution has been continued by a non-profit organization. The operator of the monastery ensemble, Evangelische Heimstätte Kloster Zella e.V., also offers premises for pilgrims, weddings, cultural events, and other public and ecclesiastical formats.

• Schloss Bischofstein (Castle, approx. 4285 m away)
• Gutshaus Katharinenberg (Mansion and Manor House, approx. 4309 m away)
• Burgreste Stein (Ruins, approx. 4790 m away)
• Kloster Anrode (Sacred Building, approx. 5944 m away)