To the south of the church was the enclosure of the monastery. This area was reserved exclusively for the monks and served as a place of retreat and contemplation. The enclosure included the cloister and several adjoining buildings and rooms. Remaining are, amongst other things, two wings of the cloister, the fountain house in the cloister courtyard, parts of the abbot's house and the sacristy.

For God’s sake! – A Monastery in State of Exception

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For God‘s sake! This place has turned into a fair. No, even worse! Into Sodom and Gomorrha! So many people! In our monastery! The same thing every single year: this pilgrimage! O Lord, forgive me! I know, I know: Every year those poor souls come to our monastery on the saint’s day of our patron saints Peter and Paul on the 29th of June to seek support and consolation. The Holy Father in Rome gave us permission to grant indulgence after all. Also, many pilgrims worship our miracle-working picture of the Virgin Mary and hope for healing. Still, God may forgive my selfish soul, they make a mess of everything! Usually us Benedictine monks have a very organized daily routine. In case we did not already pray at night, we start our daily chores with the praise of god early on in the morning by singing David’s psalms. An individual devotion follows as does the next part of the liturgy of the hours. Of course we don’t only pray! We also work very hard as this is part of our godly lives. “Ora et labora”, as the founder of our order Saint Benedict used to say. For instance, we have to take care of the gardens or manage our estates and our scriptorium is busy copying the Holy Bible and all the knowledge of our time. They also draft documents for us and the worldly lords. And all that must be done with consideration, vacancy and love. But as soon as those pilgrims arrive in masses, nothing seems to be the same anymore. Many of them even come all the way from Holland, England or Norway! Not to speak of those troublesome merchants, flogging their devotional objects and pilgrims badges. I like to doubt that they are living a godly live considering that Jesus Christ himself chased them away from the Temple of Salomon. Even our most tranquil refuge, the cloistered courtyard, where we lay our late brothers to rest is occupied by them! The same with the well house, where we receive fresh water from the Lutter and trim our tonsure. Not even the scriptorium and the well house are spared from their hullaballoo! O, I wished the duke would finally put an end to all this. Maybe it would help if Emperor Lothar turned in his grave. This will hardly be the case, though, as the blessed benefactor of our monastery has been resting in his crypt for centuries. And it seems it will stay that way.