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Origin and history

The Schwarzenthann convent, also known as Schwarzenthann, is a former Austrian female priory founded in 1117 on the heights of Wintzfelden, near Soultzmatt. Originally established in Marbach, the community was transferred to this site where it reached its peak in 1154 with the creation of the Guta-Sintram Codex, a manuscript illuminated by the canoness Guta and the Sintram Canon. This codex, now famous, illustrates the cultural and religious importance of the convent at that time.

In 1298, the convent was first destroyed by the troops of the Count of Ferrette, marking the beginning of its decline. In the 14th century, the abbot of Marbach accelerated his abandonment by dispersing the last nuns. Between 1484 and 1533, the site was partially reoccupied, but once again ransacked in 1525 during peasant revolts. The last sisters finally left Schwarzenthann in 1531, and the commune of Soultzmatt became its owner in 1543, using the ruins as a stone quarry until the 18th century.

Rediscovered in 1969 by children from the village, the site revealed major remains such as a Romanesque sarcophagus and funerary slabs, now preserved in a lapidarium in Wintzfelden. The foundations of the church, the hospice and the farm remain visible, and an educational path, enriched in 2024 by 3D reconstructions, allows to trace its history. Ranked a historic monument in 1982, the site is now a memorial to the Alsatian medieval heritage.

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