This volume has been published to commemorate the 850th anniversary of Loccum Abbey near Hanover. Members of the Abbey and befriended scholars investigate the foundation and the major stages in the history of the Abbey. With the Reformation the properous Cistercian abbey was converted into an evangelical monastery. The abbots gained extensive political influence and the Abbey ran a seminary for preachers. The volume includes studies on the foundation of the Abbey, on the medieaval veneration of the saints, on the introduction of the Reformation and its subsumption under the principality of Calenberg. It concludes with observations on the work of a preacher seminary and on the future training of theologians.

Contributions by: Manfred von Boetticher, Heinrich Holze, Gerald Kruhöffer, Martin Kruse, Martin Ohst, Arnd Reitemeier, Hedwig Röckelein, Hermann Josef Roth, Michael Wöller, Fritz Erich Anhelm, Bernd Ulrich Hucker, Simon Sosnitza, Christoph Wiesenfeldt, Thomas Jan Kück