The old
cistercian abbey

A few kilometres from Bitche, the small village of Sturzelbronn is home to an old Cistercian abbey founded in the 12th century.Destroyed in the French Revolution, only a few vestiges remain:The statue of St Bernard de Clairvaux, founder of the abbey: erected in 1935 at the 800th anniversary of the commeration for the founding of the Cistercian abbey in 1135. The great gates put in place during the 18th century after the 30 year war, a symbol of the power that the abbey possessed. The lapidary calendar: one of the more rare and interesting remains of the abbey. Unique in France, this ingenious calendar with its double entry table allows you to calculate the time in weeks and in days that separate Christmas from the 1st Sunday of Lent. It is sealed in the inner entrance of the church. The tympanum from the old abbey church reflecting the sobriety of the Cistercian artistry. Other things to see: the pillory reflecting the right to justice served by the monks, a sandstone sarcophgi and the cellar cave.