Reifenstein Abbey was a Cistercian abbey near the present village of Kleinbartloff in the Eichsfeld in Thuringia, Germany.
First building
It was founded on 1 August 1162 by Count Ernst of Tonna-Gleichen, on a site then known as Albolderode, and was settled by monks from Volkenroda Abbey near Mühlhausen.
The abbey was economically successful and by the end of the thirteenth century had acquired about fifty estates in the neighbourhood. Little is known however of its internal affairs: even the sequence of the abbots is uncertain.
In 1521 Heinrich Pfeiffer, a monk at Reifenstein, left the abbey to become a Lutheran. He preached rebellion in his native town of Mühlhausen, shared the leadership in the German Peasants' War in Thuringia with Thomas Münzer, and in May 1525, burnt Reifenstein Abbey to the ground. After the Battle of Frankenhausen he was captured near Eisenach and executed, dying impenitent. In 1524 there had only been six monks left in Reifenstein, which after the fire underwent a complete decline: in 1539 only one remained in the ruins, and shortly afterwards the site was completely deserted. In 1575 there was again a single monk, and in 1579, five or six, but they led so lawless a life that Reifenstein, according to a contemporary report, resembled a robbers' cave.
Second building
The church was restored in 1582 and the monastery in 1585. The exemplary Abbot Philipp Busse (1589–1639) re-established discipline and order, but during the Thirty Years' War the abbey was pillaged seven times and almost reduced to ashes, Abbot Philipp was carried off as a prisoner, and six or seven monks were murdered. The few remaining monks sought shelter in caves, and begged bread from the peasants.
Third building
The reconstruction of the abbey did not occur until Abbot Wilhelm Streit (1690–1721) took up office. By 1738 it had twenty-four members, and was able to survive the turmoil of the Seven Years' War. Between 1737 and 1743 the new abbey church was spectacularly rebuilt in the Baroque style.
The abbey was dissolved on 2 March 1803, and its territories and assets taken over by the Prussian State. The last abbot was Antonius Löffler (d. 1823). At this time there were 24 monks and three novices. They were allowed to live on the premises, and given a pension; only 9 remained in 1809. The abbey's valuables were dispersed to neighbouring churches. The library of 4000 books and 200 incunabula found its way first to the Gymnasium in Heiligenstadt, and eventually (in 1907) to the State Library in Berlin.
School (1900-1951) In 1900 a school for young women was established, teaching agriculture and domestic science. About 40 Reifenstein schools were established starting in 1898, and took the name of the abbey.
The school remained in operation until after World War II. Brigitte Albert (later Kay) wrote of her time there in 1942-43:
The large monastic buildings formed a solid three-storey unit containing two inner courtyards. They were in a dell at the edge of the southern Thüringen beechwoods. Their large grounds were totally surrounded by a ten-foot stone wall with one impressive gate. When Bismarck appropriated the monasteries for the State of Prussia, one wing was set aside to administer the rich outlying farmlands. The nearest village was three miles away; the nearest small town, seven. We were a hundred females in utter isolation. Most of our twelve teachers came from the aristocracy. So did many of the girls. The ethos of the school was based on Christianity. We had services both morning and evening. Our manners were those of the long-defunct Prussian court. Our ages were eighteen and above; we were all in uniform; in the evenings after the last chorale we walked past a long line of teachers, curtseying to each and kissing hands with the Principal.