Buch Abbey

Buch Abbey, in German Kloster Buch, is a former Cistercian monastery near Leisnig in Saxony.LocationKloster Buch is located approximately halfway between the cities Leipzig and Dresden, about 4 km east of the town of Leisnig in Mittelsachsen district in a bend of the river Freiberger Mulde. The floodplain of the latter is here about 800 m wide, bordered by forests and used for agriculture.HistoryFrom its foundation until the Protestant ReformationKloster Buch was first mentioned in a document of Emperor Heinrich IV who bestowed to it the parish of Leisnig According to Cistercian tradition, abbot Hildebert, twelve monks and twelve lay brothers left Sittichenbach Abbey in 1 August 1192 and reached Buch on 17 August 1192. Kloster Buch is therefore a filial abbey of Sittichenbach, their primary abbey is Morimond. The foundation of the new abbey was initiated by Burgrave Heinrich III of Leisnig, who resided in nearby Mildenstein Castle. Unlike other Cistercian monasteries, it was not founded in uninhabitated parts.