The Spiritual Halls of Wine

Eberbach Monastery in the Rheingau region of Hesse is world-famous for its fine wines and of course for the feature film “The Name of the Rose”, starring Sean Connery With the kind support of the monastery administration, I was able to photograph the unique hospital cellar of the Cistercian monastery. This building was originally built in the early 13th century as a hospital and place of death for the monastery and is a remarkable landmark throughout Europe. In modern times, the hospital cellar was temporarily used for wine production. With the old wine barrels in candlelight, the historic hospital cellar represents a spiritual place for wine, and the monks made a significant contribution to the spread of wine growing in Europe.