A baroque church with a magnificent garden: from the outside, Waldsassen Abbey may look like a typical monastery. But those who explore it beyond the façade will discover a modern, cosmopolitan abbey. Since the abbess M. Laetitia Fech has been running the abbey, many visitors come here every day to admire it. With creative ideas and a great deal of courage, she has succeeded in reviving the abbey and preserving a long tradition. For more than 1,000 years, the abbeys have characterised the landscape of Bavaria and have long been the economic centre of entire regions, as well as in Waldsassen. The century-old monastery of the Cistercian order was founded in 1133 and until 1803 was a monastery for men only. Rich, prosperous and influential, the abbey grew more and more as time went by: in 1704 the magnificent basilica was built and about ten years later the famous Abbey Library was built. From 1864, the abbey became a convent and a girls' school was founded shortly afterwards. "The abbey was the economic engine of the region.
