Archive Tower - Bell Tower
The west wing stood between the south wing and the current bell tower. It connected the workshop and clothing store with the archive tower and the church and was used as a nurses' house.
During military operations from 1583 to 1588, Rumbeck Monastery was attacked and plundered. At the end of the 16th century, Provost Bernhard Tütel therefore began to renovate all of the monastery buildings. Around 100 years later (1719/20), the west wing was completely rebuilt.
In the Ground floor There was probably a refectory (dining room) and, at the latest, an infirmary there in 1720.
The Upper floor formed the dormitory. Here each sister had a small cell. According to the statutes of the Premonstratensian nuns, all sisters had to leave their cells when the bell rang and line up in the hallway. From there they then went together to the nuns' gallery at the same height in the church. Unfortunately, neither plans nor other documents exist for this building, which was demolished in 1832.
The Archive Tower stands at the north-western end of the former sisters' house. The remaining front wall of the sisters' house connects the tower with the church.
In all monasteries, important documents and valuable books were carefully guarded over the centuries. They also usually had extensive libraries from which the cloistered sisters or monks could borrow books for personal, mostly religious, contemplation. In order to protect this valuable treasure from destruction, for example by fire, a special archive tower was built at Rumbeck Abbey in 1702 at the latest, attached to the west wing. The entrance to the former library can still be seen today through a sandstone-framed door on the first floor of the archive tower. At the same height, you can also see the connecting passage to the nuns' gallery towards the church. Only a few documents, files, manuscripts and books survived secularization and are now scattered in numerous archives. In 1955, the archive tower was extended with four bells, using the baroque roof as a bell tower. Behind the newly opened gate on the ground floor is now the mortuary.