A short introduction to the history of the Altzella Monastery Park
enlarge viewRuins of the Abbey of the ancient monastery Altzella
In the year 1162 the founder of the monastery, Margrave Otto von Meissen, known as “Otto the Rich”, received permission from Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa to establish a monastery which would also be the burial site for his family, the Wettins. The Cistercian order took over the construction of the monastery, moving in 1175 and starting its monastic life. Even today it is still possible to see signs of their devotion to a simple and poor life in the grounds, based on pure belief and the agricultural knowledge of the Cistercians.
Altzella Monastery, at that time known as “Cella Sanctae Mariae”, developed to be one of the most important monasteries in central Germany. Monks from Altzella were involved in the founding of the universities of Prague and Leipzig, where they were running the so-called Bernhard-Kolleg. At its height about 250 monks were living permanently in the monastery. The monastery possessed an important scientific library, which was housed in the library hall erected in 1506. The library consisted of about 960 volumes, mainly works on theology, philosophy, law and medicine. The monastery also had a decisive economic influence on the region. The economic system of the abbey, known as the granges, stretched as far as Bohemia. This system allowed the abbey to be self-sufficient in raw materials and food, thus being economically independent.
The monastery was dissolved during the period of the reformation in Saxony. The nobility at the Saxon court took control of its possessions. The rest of the contents were distributed, most of the books from the library being given to the University of Leipzig. Later several of the buildings of the former monastery were demolished in order to obtain materials form the construction of the nearby Nossen parish church and the residential palace. The economic area of the former monastery was rebuilt as a manor farm of the ruling family in Saxony.
It was only in 1676 that the Elector of Saxony, Johann Georg II, ordered excavations in order to honor his ancestors, and had his own burial chapel built. It remained unfinished however, and could only be completed as a neo-classical-style mausoleum in the period 1787 to 1804. It was at that time, around 1800, that a landscaped park in the Romanticist style incorporating the buildings and ruins could be laid out by the court gardener Johann Gottfried Huebler.