page_title: Eisleben
section_title: Helfta
hierarchical_section_title: Eisleben / Helfta
caption_attribution_description: English: Helfta Convent (Lutherstadt Eisleben), houses for the nuns Deutsch: Kloster Helfta (Lutherstadt Eisleben), Häuser für die Nonnen This is a photograph of an architectural monument. It is on the list of cultural monuments of Lutherstadt Eisleben, no. 094 75480
context_page_description: Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as the hometown of Martin Luther; because of this, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. In 2015, Eisleben had a population of 24,198.
  Eisleben has two parts old town and new town. The new town was created for Eisleben's miners in the 14th century.
  Eisleben was the capital of the district of Mansfelder Land and is the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Lutherstadt Eisleben.
context_section_description: In 1229, the Counts of Mansfield started a convent for women. At first, it was on the grounds of their castle. Then they built a separate convent at Helfta near Eisleben, which opened in 1258. It was governed under either the Benedictine or Cistercian model. It became known for its powerful and mystical abbesses, including Gertrude of Hackeborn, Gertrude the Great and Mechtild. However, Duke Albrecht of Brunswick destroyed the convent in 1342. It was rebuilt the next year. It closed in 1524, but later reopened on a smaller scale until 1542
  In 1542, it came under the control of local farmers. In 1712 it became a farm run by the Prussian state. In 1994, the Catholic Diocese of Magdeburg bought the property and began restoring the building. Cistercian nuns from Seligenthal in Bavaria moved in starting in approximately 1999.
caption: Modern accommodation for nuns, Helfta Convent (Lutherstadt Eisleben).
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