Abstract / DOI
Monasteries and their Gardens – Usefulness and Contemplation. Monasteries and gardens always belonged together. In the Latin church monasteries included – apart from the garden in the cloistered courtyard – vegetable-, herb- and fruit-gardens. They were used for daily supply and medicinal purposes. Apart from that, they had symbolic meaning in their outline as well as the choice of plants. This was already pointed out by Walahfrid Strabo, abbot of the Benedictine monastery on the Reichenau Island, in his poem «hortulus». For the theologians of the reformation everyday life in marriage and family stood for the monastery. This included the care of the garden. Gardens of baroque monasteries were part of the representation of their political and economic power. In the 19th and 20th century new examples for gardens connected with Christian faith developed, which also want to integrate scientific and theological perspectives in different ways.