Steinfeld Abbey

It became an important monastery in the German Empire, and established a number of daughter houses across Europe, including Strahov Abbey in Prague.

The basilica contains the tomb of Hermann Joseph of Steinfeld, a popular Premonstratensian saint, situated in the middle of the church and covered with a slab and a recumbent figure of alabaster, carved in 1732.

After the dissolution in 1802 the stained glass windows, made between 1526 and 1557 by Gerhard Remisch, were sold by a local dealer to a compatriot in Norwich in England.

Some panels found their way to village churches in East Anglia, but the majority reached Lord Brownlow's collection at Ashridge Park, from where they were purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

While at Ashridge the glass was catalogued by M. R. James, who identified it as originating from Steinfeld, on which he based the short story "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas".