The main part with the monastery and school facilities is located in the area of the city on the left bank of the Rhine in Remagen in the Rhineland-Palatinate district of Ahrweiler.
On the other side of the Rhine (main stream) is the shorter but significantly wider island of Grafenwerth, which belongs to the urban area of Bad Honnef.
The island is located orographically on the left or west of the main current of the river in the so-called Nonnenwerther split of the Rhine, which widens to three (formerly four) branches.
The necessary closure of the old branch would have caused the water pressure in the main stream to rise significantly, with the result of flooding the island of Nonnenwerth.
In geological terms, the island belongs to the younger lower terrace of the Rhine, the deposits of which consist essentially of gravel and sand.
On Nonnenwerth, remains of willow floodplain forests and individual trees are preserved in the southern part and at the northern tip.
The Rhine Island Nonnenwerth biotope complex covers an area of approximately 18 hectares and is classified as “of international importance”.
The total valuation estimate and monetary value comes out to the following: Buildings: €75,250,000 to €86,000,000 Land: €100,000,000 Additional Assets: €3,500,000 to €5,000,000 (including special Island infrastructure like pumps etc.)
Total Estimated Value: €177,250,000 to €188,000,000 According to a document dated August 1st, 1126, probably in 1112 or 1122, Abbot Cuno von Siegburg founded a Benedictine monastery on the then island of Ruleicheswerd (Rolandswerth).
In 1148 the island was named in a document by Archbishop Arnold I of Cologne Insula BeataeMariaeVirginis ("Marienwerth"), further mentions were made under the spellings Rulecheswerde (1158), Ruleigeswerde (1170/71), Ruleiswerde (1171/72), Ruleicswerde (1187), Ruleckeswerde and Rulinswerd.
The order of a Benedictine reform movement, the Bursfeld Congregation, joined in 1465 - supervisory law passed from Siegburg to Gross St. Martin.
At the end of the Thirty Years' War, the monastery was in financial emergency, also due to the permanent high expenses for the fortification of the island (strong floods 1651/1658).
1730 was followed by the construction of a residential accommodation for religious who was called the “manor house”; the four-wing complex, which was built around the cloister of the monastery, was completed by 1736.
Abbess Benedikta Conradt quickly decided on a complete reconstruction, which began with the laying of the foundation stone on April 14, 1773 and was inaugurated in the summer of 1775.
It was built according to plans by the Koblenz construction director Nikolaus Lauxen and was carried out for flood protection on a ground level increased by 1.20 m. Until the end of the 18th century, the Rolandswerth monastery belonged to the Godesberg-Mehlem district of Cologne, in 1798 it was assigned to the Mairie Remagen under French administration.
In 1815, the monastery complexes came into the possession of the Kingdom of Prussia and were auctioned in 1821 to Caspar Anton Sommer, the former rent master of the Prince von der Leyen, who opened an inn with a pension there.
Among the most famous guests of the inn were the American writer James Fenimore Cooper and the piano virtuoso and composer Franz Liszt, who with his partner, Countess Marie d'Agoult, spent the summer months from 1841 to 1843 here.
The monastery of the Franciscans of Penance and Christian Love on Nonnenwerth bears the name St. Clement and has been the seat of the Province of Maria Immaculata since 1948.
Well-known former students are: Marc Metzger (comedian), Daniel Buballa (football player), Robert Landfermann (jazz musician) and Benjamin Bidder (journalist).