Eberbach, a famous Cistercian monastery of Germany, in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, situated near Hattenheim in the Rheingau, 10 m. N.W. from Wiesbaden. Founded in 1116 by Archbishop Adalbert of Mainz, as a house of Augustinian canons regular, it was bestowed by him in 1131 upon the Benedictines, but was shortly afterwards repurchased and conferred upon the Cistercian order. The Romanesque church (consecrated in 1186) contains numerous interesting monuments and tombs, notable among them being those of the archbishop of Mainz, Gerlach (d. 1371) and Adolph II. of Nassau (d. 1475). It was despoiled during the Thirty Years’ War, was secularized in 1803, and now serves as a house of correction. Its cellars contain some of the finest vintages of the Rhine wines of the locality.
See Bär, Diplomatische Geschichte der Abtei Eberbach (Wiesb., 1851-1858 and 1886, 3 vols.), and Schäfer, Die Abtei Eberbach im Mittelalter (Berlin, 1901).
