Brauweiler Abbey

The monastery was founded and endowed in 1024 by Pfalzgraf Ezzo, count palatine of Lotharingia of the Ezzonian dynasty and his wife Matilda of Germany, a daughter of Emperor Otto II and Theophano.

Ezzo and Matilda were buried here, as were their two eldest sons Liudolf, Count Palatine of Lotharingia (d. 1031) and Otto II, Duke of Swabia (d. 1047).

In 1048 Richeza of Lotharingia, eldest daughter of Ezzo and Matilda, built a new abbey church dedicated to Saints Nicholas and Medardus.

From 1945 to 1949, it was an open camp for displaced persons administered first by the British Army and then by UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration).

The Rheinisches Amt für Denkmalpflege ("Rhenish Department for the Care of Historic Monuments").hosts various events such as concerts, fine arts exhibitions, symposiums, and theatre performances on the abbey grounds.

Brauweiler Abbey as seen from outside
Inner yard with St. Nicholas' church, formerly the church of Brauweiler Abbey, in the background