Frauenberg Abbey (Fulda)

Frauenberg Monastery is a Franciscan (OFM) monastery on the mountain of the same name in Fulda.

The monastery was the headquarters of the Thuringian Franciscan Province (it was merged with the four other provinces to form the German Franciscan Province in 2010) and houses 22 friars. The monastery also includes a late Baroque monastery church.

As the favorite place of Saint Boniface, Frauenberg received the name Bischofsberg (Bishop's Mountain). Soon, an originally wooden chapel was replaced by a stone church by Abbot Ratgar (802 to 817), which was consecrated in 809 by Archbishop Richulf of Mainz. After the collegiate church, the Ratgar Basilica, it was probably the first consecrated church in Fulda. During Ratgar's tenure, the first Fulda parish was founded on Bischofsberg. Around 817, the first canons occupied the monastery. The collegiate church was converted into a Benedictine monastery under Abbot Egbert (1048 to 1058), and so already in the 12th century, documents refer to Mons s. Mariae, meaning "Marienberg" (Mary's Mountain) as well as "Mountain of Our Lady" – popularly known as "Frauenberg". Until 1525, Frauenberg Monastery was one of the Fulda provostries. During the Peasants' War, the monastery complex was destroyed, but reconstruction was completed by 1616.

Franciscans have been settled on Frauenberg since March 31, 1623. On March 29, 1757, the monastery and church burned down except for the Fürstenbau (Prince's Building), so the monastery complex in its current Baroque form was built between 1758 and 1765.

Since 2003, a guesthouse has been housed in a wing of the monastery buildings.