Klosterkirche Seebach, Romanesque church in Bad Dürkheim, Germany.
Klosterkirche Seebach is the former convent church of a Benedictine nunnery founded in 1136, built around 1200 as a three-aisled Romanesque pillar basilica dedicated to St. Laurentius. Of the original Latin-cross layout, the Romanesque crossing with its octagonal crossing tower and the flat-ended choir survive; the nave and transepts are ruins. The choir exterior, with pilasters, round-arch friezes and stepped window surrounds, shows stylistic kinship with the east parts of Worms Cathedral.
Siegfried von Seebach founded a Benedictine convent here, first documented in 1136; around 1200 the convent church rose as a three-aisled Romanesque basilica dedicated to St. Laurentius, and in 1210 the house became an abbey. In 1471 the nave was badly damaged during the siege of Dürkheim by Elector Friedrich, and it was rebuilt in Gothic style between 1482 and 1488. After the Reformation the monastery was dissolved in 1591, and the remaining church served the Reformed congregation while nave and transepts decayed and were quarried for stone.
The church is dedicated to Saint Laurentius, not Saint Seebach. Since 1591 the former convent church has served the Reformed congregation, and the village of Seebach grew around the former monastery. Today the ruin of the north transept is used as a columbarium; the former district administrator Sabine Röhl (1957–2012) is buried there.
The church is accessible via Bad Dürkheim's main roads with parking available within walking distance. Visitors should remember that this is an active place of worship and respectful conduct is expected.
Under the north transept a spring emerges to the east, still channelled in a stone setting. The north transept ruin now serves as a columbarium; the best-known person buried there is former district administrator Sabine Röhl (1957–2012). Two fragments of medieval grave slabs are set into its walls.
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