Fischbeck, a small village near the “Pied Piper town” of Hameln in Lower Saxony, is home to the Fischbeck Abbey, which can now look back on over 1000 years of history. The abbey complex is located on extensive grounds (3.7 hectares) and consists of the abbey church, residential and farm buildings as well as the abbey gardens, which have been restored according to historical models.
In addition to the prestigious abbey garden, laid out in the style of an English landscape garden, guests can also enjoy a cloister garden, an herb garden, a bee garden (beekeeping) and an orchard as well as a garden with tree monuments. The gardens are open in connection with cultural events and themed tours are also offered. Fischbeck Abbey is also an “extracurricular learning centre” and works with kindergartens and various types of schools.
The gardens are an important part of the public relations work. Guides and monastery ladies offer guided tours of the church, the cloister and cloister courtyard as well as the monastery gardens. In recent years, increasing drought and storms have unfortunately destroyed or severely damaged some of the old trees.
With the financial support of the Daniel Schlegel Umweltstiftung, five large globe maples (16-year-olds) were planted in the Abbey Cemetery in early 2023 to complement an existing avenue. A Canadian maple was planted in the Abbey Garden and now provides some colour and additional shade. And a little further away, behind the newly renovated south barn in the hop garden, an American oak and a rowan have found a new home.
With this planting, the Daniel Schlegel Environmental Foundation is making an important contribution to the preservation of the listed abbey complex and its garden landscape.
