Klosterkamp Postcard
Mon Jan 05 2009

Despite of the fact that my vacations didn't happenned exactly like my typical vacations, I haven't done any travelling around while staying with the relatives…however, when we visited some of their friends, we persuaded them to surprise us with “something interesting about their place”…wherever I go, I like to take away a special something of that place, a “memory postcard” , so that when with time the memories of a good time will fade away there will be still something to bring to mind on the mentioning of the name… so…we did manage to see a little gem in Germany which I want to share with you.

It’s called Klosterkamp and it is an abbey with adjourned gardens, we found it in the town of Kamp-Lintfort - Western part of Germany. On our way there the land of Nordrhein-Westfalen (that’s how the region called) looked a bit "overindustrial“ ...but we arrived into Kamp-Lintfort and found something different...


This little Abbey is actually known for a long time, since it was founded in…1123! Used to be the Cistercian monastery and used to be very wealthy around 15th century. Then, as it often happens, time and wars have taken their toll and the monastery has been destroyed and restored few times…the last incarnation of it was officially re-opened to the public only recently, in 1999… we poped into the church (which is now a parish church) but of course the gardens impressed us more. Even though there wasn't any bright colours of flowers abundance, like we've been told how it is in summer, the place still looked and felt amusing...perfectly outlined , almost too perfect...a little bit like a toy set of a plastic conic trees and restangular borders...I even had to touch a tree to make sure it's a real one. It was...These baroque terraced gardens described in the guide books as a ‘Sanssouci on the Lower Rhine’. Since I have no idea what original „Sanssouci“ might look like, I just enjoyed the gardens as they were... 





When we’ve been there everything was green despite of the fact it was straight after Christmas. On return home after New Year’s I’ve found live webcam view of the same place...powedered in snow! I think this way it looks even more amazing...It might not be the most recognised landmark of a region, but for me Klosterkamp Abbey has become a postcard for the Land of the Lower Rhine.
2 Comments
  • From:
    Welshamethyst (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jan 13 2009
    Those photos are absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing ;)

    There's an abbey in the south east of Ireland, Jerpoint. It's a ruin now but it was founded by the Benedictines in 1100 and taken over (by force) by the Cistercians not too long after that. It's one of my favorite places on the planet. The tombs are unbelievable. The carvings are exquisite.
  • From:
    Dreamerbooks2003 (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jan 13 2009
    The garden crew has job security!!
    what amazing trees