Theme Tours - About the Life and Influence of the Cistercians at Eberbach

"Ora et Labora"

The Cistercians and the Water

Eberbach Monastery Gardens

To make a convenient online reservation, please use our Reservation Form

"Ora et Labora"

Theme Tour

"Why Monks Pray and Work" A one-hour tour through the former Eberbach Monastery

"Ora et labora" - This short form of the Benedictine Rule from the 6th century seems to answer, right from the beginning, all questions regarding the requirements for prayer and work. The monks were supposed to pray and work, but nothing was said about the length of each of these activities. While prayer was considered to be an essential activity focused on making contact with God, the handicraft work was viewed controversially during the early stages of the Christian monastic' orders. Reports have been handed down about Antonius, one of the first hermits, who was said to have prayed to God in the desert and begged for his rescue. In his desperation, he prayed and worked. He reached his salvation through a balanced mix of both activities.

By the 10th century, the balance had shifted to a combination of work, prayer and spiritual readings (lectio devina). The relative importance of corporal labor in the fields and within the monastery increased only after the founding of the first Cistercian monastery in Citeaux, France and among the early Cistercian monks during the 12th century. The normal daily work time amounted to up to six hours during the summer and was, just like prayer and the holy masses, fully integrated in the daily routine. During the one-hour tour, questions such as why the prior struck the table, why the monks were only permitted to communicate in sign language and when the prayer hours were held, will be answered.

Tour Fee	3.50 € per person, Admission Fee plus English Guide Fee - € 55.00 per group (10 - 30 persons)
Evening Events (extra charge in addition to the Guide Fee)	10.00 € per group Applies to events beginning after 8:00 p.m. (April through October) or after 7.00 p.m.(November through March)
Dates and Times	Upon enquiry! Meeting point is the Ticket Office.
Reservations	A reservation for group events can be made on dates to meet your needs with groups of 10 persons or more! Touristinfo & Kulturamt (TIK), Magistrat der Stadt Eltville Rheingauer Straße 28, D-65343 Eltville am Rhein Info Tel. +49 (0) 6123 / 9098 0 . Fax +49 (0) 6123 / 9098 90 E-mail touristik@eltville.de
Note	Some of the rooms cannot be reached with wheel chairs!

The Cistercians and the Water

Theme Tour

"About Dealing with a Precious Resource"

When Bernhard of Clairvaux visited the Archbishop of Mainz in 1135, they took the opportunity to make an excursion into the quiet Kisselbach Valley. Here, Bernhard recognized immediately that this would be an ideal location for the founding of a Cistercian monastery. The Cistercians preferred to settle in secluded, wooded valleys with nearby streams or in swamplands. Water was of vital importance to them. They were masters in redirecting and controlling water flows and in making use of water power. In this field, they were far ahead of their times. Equally important, the Cistercians were pioneers in land development in the areas of swamp drainage, construction of drainage trenches and recovery of arable land. A final element of the Cistercian monks' work program was the construction of fish ponds for fish breeding. During this tour through and around the Monastery, you will learn many interesting things about the economic and spiritual importance of water to the gray monks.

Tour Fee	3.50 € per person, Admission Fee plus English Guide Fee - € 55.00 per group (10 - 30 persons)
Dates and Times	Upon enquiry! Meeting point is the Ticket Office.
Reservations	A reservation for group events can be made on dates to meet your needs with groups of 10 persons or more! Touristinfo & Kulturamt (TIK), Magistrat der Stadt Eltville Rheingauer Straße 28, D-65343 Eltville am Rhein Info Tel. +49 (0) 6123 / 9098 0 . Fax +49 (0) 6123 / 9098 90 E-mail touristik@eltville.de
Note	Some of the rooms cannot be reached with wheel chairs!

Eberbach Monastery Gardens

Theme Tour

"Through the Blooming Gardens" Monastic Garden Design - Then and Now

This tour covers a broad span of topics and time periods from the monastic horticultural art of the Middle Ages to the still young sequoia tree in today's Monastery Garden, with its 4,000 year life expectancy. The tour will take you from the central Monastery Garden, through the carefully cared-for Cloister Garden to today's more naturally gardened areas of the Monastery. During the tour, you will also see many carefully preserved mementos of Baroque garden design strewn about throughout the gardens such as flower bed borders, shaped bushes and water spout decorative elements. The open spaces and gardens at the Eberbach Monastery occupy a significant share of the total area of about 18.5 acres. This was not true during its entire history, as the Monastery grew and changed to meet the needs of the monks. And thus, over time, new buildings were constructed, changed and torn down again and again. Also, for example, the course of the Monastery Wall had to be changed, when new grounds were to be enclosed in the northern part of the Monastery complex. The layout of the gardens was alway affected by these architectural changes. For instance, the new Monks' Refectory Building erected during the 18th century made space for the former Monastery Garden in the large Monastery Courtyard. At the same time, new building construction near the Orangery provided the basis for the planned layout of a spacious Baroque garden area. Also, the water works and earthworks made to facilitate the use of water power and to ensure a steady supply of fresh water were part of the monks' work routine. These works shaped the landscape of the open spaces of the Monastery over time. Experience a tour which will provide you a full range of impressions, colors and scents to enhance your visit to Eberbach.

Tour Fee	3.50 € per person, Admission Fee plus English Guide Fee - € 55.00 per group (10 - 30 persons)
Dates and Times	Upon enquiry! Meeting point is the Ticket Office.
Reservations	A reservation for group events can be made on dates to meet your needs with groups of 10 persons or more! Touristinfo & Kulturamt (TIK), Magistrat der Stadt Eltville Rheingauer Straße 28, D-65343 Eltville am Rhein Info Tel. +49 (0) 6123 / 9098 0 . Fax +49 (0) 6123 / 9098 90 E-mail touristik@eltville.de
Note	Some of the rooms cannot be reached with wheel chairs!

Reservations for the above-described tours can be made with the Booking Service TIK Eltville at touristik@eltville.de or please use our Reservation Form You will find other Theme Tours here. However, up to now, these tours can only be booked with a German-speaking guide.

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