Oelenberg Abbey

In 2018, one book and one loose bookplate from the library of Oelenberg Abbey/Abbaye Notre Dame d'Oelenberg were returned.

Oelenberg Abbey (founded in 1046 as an Augustinian canon priory) is now a Trappist monastery of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance. Over the centuries, the abbey has undergone an eventful history with destruction, decay, changes of ownership and reconstruction. It was also not spared severe destruction during the two world wars of the 20th century.
 
Under Nazi rule, the Catholic Church was not only subjected to severe persecution in Germany, but also in the occupied countries. For example, the subsidiary foundation of Oelenberg Abbey in Engelszell (Austria) was dissolved and its monks persecuted, arrested and deported to concentration camps. For Alsace, so-called Klosteraufhebungen (“monastery dissolutions”) were planned.

The bookplate was part of the Berlin City Library's ex-libris collection, but it is unclear how it was acquired. It is also unclear how the book was acquired by the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin. It was identified in unprocessed storage holdings of the Berlin City Library.