The third Cistercian monastery on German territory was founded by Adelheid of Lare (Lohra), wife of Count Volkmar of Klettenberg, under the first abbot Henry I (1127–28);[1] the foundation was backed by King Lothair III and confirmed in 1137 by Pope Innocent II.

Two Cistercian daughter houses were founded: Pforta (Sancta Maria ad Portam, 1137) near Naumburg and Sittichenbach Abbey (1141) near Eisleben in the County of Mansfeld.

The monks gave much attention to land clearance and development, especially mining,[1] smelting and charcoal works, and also the construction of fishponds.

They used the Upper Harz water management system to cultivate the surrounding estates along the Helme river down to Thuringia, which are today called Goldene Aue.

The church, then one of the largest in Northern Germany, and the adjacent cloister were finished in a Gothic style and consecrated by Bishop Siegfried II of Hildesheim in 1290.

The Wolfenbüttel dukes ruled the former abbey's estates within an incorporated Amt also comprising the neighbouring villages of Zorge and Hohegeiß.

The Gothic church was greatly damaged since the destruction of the roof tower by the peasants in 1525; today only a few picturesque remains are still in existence.