Ebstorf Abbey (German: Kloster Ebstorf) is a German convent near the Lower Saxon town of Uelzen that was founded around 1160 as monastery called Kloster St. Mauritius for the Premonstratensian order of canons. It is one of several Lutheran convents that is maintained by the Monastic Chamber of Hanover (German: Klosterkammer Hannover), an institution of the former Kingdom of Hanover founded by Prince-Regent George IV in 1818, in order to manage and preserve the estates of Lutheran convents on their behalf, now continued as an institution of Hanover's successor state of Lower Saxony.
The monastery was founded by Volrad von Bodwede, Count of Dannenberg, and a nephew of Henry the Lion. In 1197 it was mentioned in the records for the first time. It belongs to the six so-called Lüneklöstern ("Lüne monasteries") that became Lutheran convents following the Reformation.
After a fire in the 12th century Benedictine nuns from Kloster Walsrode moved to Ebstorf, and Ebstorf became a place of pilgrimage (Marienwallfahrtsort). The monastery's buildings from the 14th century, built in a North German Brick Gothic style, are fully preserved today as is the hall church with raised nun's gallery. The Propstei (provostry) dates to the 15th century.
In the 15th century the life of the nuns changed following the Bursfelde monastery reform, that demanded a stricter way of life.
In 1529 the Welf duke, Ernest the Confessor from Celle converted the monastery to a Lutheran nunnery, but Reformation in the monastery was not completed until 1565. Lutheran women still live here today under the authority of a Lutheran abbess.
The abbey is famous for the Ebstorf Map, a mappa mundi from the 13th century. The original was burned during a bombing raid in 1943 on Hanover. However a faithful copy of the original can be seen in the monastery. Other points of interest are the medieval stained glass window in the Nonnenchor, the Madonna statues in the cloisters from the 13th to 15th centuries, a figure of Saint Maurice, the font of 1310, and a renaissance pulpit of 1615. In addition there a various medieval chests and cupboards.
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