Lorsch Abbey

Kloster Lorsch

UNESCO World Heritage Site
The 9th-century Torhalle (gatehouse) is a unique survival of the Carolingian era. It curiously combines some elements of the Roman triumphal arch (arch-shaped passageways, half-columns) with the vernacular Teutonic heritage (baseless triangles of the blind arcade, polychromatic masonry).
Location	Lorsch, Bergstraße, Hesse, Germany
Part of	Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch
Criteria	Cultural:  (iii), (iv)
Reference	515bis-001
Inscription	1991 (15th Session)
Area	3.11 ha (7.7 acres)
Buffer zone	14.825 ha (36.63 acres)
Website	www.kloster-lorsch.de/en
Coordinates	49°39′13″N 8°34′11″E / 49.65361°N 8.56972°E / 49.65361; 8.56972
Location of Lorsch Abbey in Germany Show map of Germany Lorsch Abbey (Hesse) Show map of Hesse

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Lorsch Abbey

  

Lorsch Abbey

Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (German: Reichsabtei Lorsch; Latin: Laureshamense Monasterium or Laurissa), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Worms. It was one of the most important monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ruined state, its remains are among the most important pre-Romanesque–Carolingian style buildings in Germany.^[1]

Its chronicle, entered in the Lorscher Codex compiled in the 1170s (now in the state archive at Würzburg), is a fundamental document for early medieval German history. Another famous document from the monastic library is the Codex Aureus of Lorsch.

In 1991 the ruined abbey was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its architectural and historical importance.^[1] The significant remains visible today are the 9th-century Torhalle (gatehouse), part of the abbey church, some of the wall around the abbey, and other walls and parts of buildings adapted to modern use.