Shrine and Relics of St. Hildegard in Eibingen
The relics of Hildegard of Bingen, kept since 1929 in a gilded shrine in the parish and pilgrimage church at Eibingen, and carried through the village in procession every 17 September since 1857. This is not the Abbey of St. Hildegard, which stands about a kilometre away.
Why pilgrims come
The wrong building is on the hill. The saint is in the village.
Almost everyone arrives at Eibingen looking for the abbey. It is the building that photographs well: the Abbey of St. Hildegard, a Benedictine community of women standing among vineyards above the Rhine, visible from the river and signposted from Rüdesheim. It is a real and living monastery, and it is worth the climb. It does not hold her relics. Those are about a kilometre downhill, in a parish church in the village, where the road is ordinary and there is nothing to photograph from a distance.
Inside that church stands the Hildegardschrein. Since 1929 her bones have been kept in a gilded shrine made at Maria Laach and finished in Cologne, and once a year, on 17 September, the day she died in 1179, it is lifted and carried through Eibingen. That procession has been kept every year since 1857, when the parish priest Ludwig Schneider established the authenticity of the relics and the village began walking them through its own streets. The church around them is not old: fire took the building to its foundation walls on the night of 3 September 1932, and the shrine was carried out in time. The present church was consecrated in 1935 on the same ground, where Hildegard's own foundation of 1165 had stood.
It is a strangely fitting arrangement for a woman who spent her life being underestimated by people looking in the wrong direction.
What is venerated here
Two institutions in Eibingen carry Hildegard's name and are constantly confused with one another. This record separates them, and separates both from the shrine itself.
A gilded shrine holding the bones of Hildegard, designed at the Benedictine abbey of Maria Laach and executed by a goldsmith in Cologne, in use since 1929. It stands in the parish church and is the reason pilgrims come to Eibingen.
A parish church of the Diocese of Limburg, in the village of Eibingen, on the site of the convent Hildegard founded here in 1165. It became the parish church in 1831 and was rebuilt after the 1932 fire. This is the custodian of the relics.
A Benedictine abbey of women founded in the early twentieth century in Hildegard's spirit, standing above the vineyards north of the village. It is a living monastery with its own guest ministry and its own life. It does not hold the relics, and it is not the medieval foundation.
On her feast the shrine is carried through Eibingen. The custom dates from 1857 and has been kept annually since. It is the one day the relics leave the building, and the day the village is fullest.
Hildegard died in 1179 at Rupertsberg, the monastery she founded across the river near Bingen, and was buried there. Swedish troops destroyed Rupertsberg in 1632. The relics were saved and brought by way of Cologne to Eibingen, where the nuns arrived in 1636.
What a pilgrim can actually see
Stated honestly, with access caveats. Nothing here promises more than the shrine ordinarily offers.
The shrine in the church
Open hoursThe Hildegardschrein stands in the parish church at Eibingen and is ordinarily approachable by anyone who walks in. This is a village parish, not a managed pilgrimage complex, and it is usually quiet.
·It is a working parish church. Hours are set locally and Masses, weddings and funerals take priority. Check with the parish before travelling for a fixed time.
The church itself
Open hoursThe building consecrated in 1935 after the fire, raised on the foundations of Hildegard's own 1165 foundation and following earlier stylistic elements in its rebuilding.
The procession, on her feast
17 September onlyThe shrine is carried through the village on the anniversary of her death. Pilgrims who want to see the relics moved rather than at rest have one day in the year to do it.
·The village is busy that day and the church's ordinary rhythm does not apply.
The Abbey of St. Hildegard, uphill
Separate visitThe Benedictine abbey stands about a kilometre north among the vineyards, with its own church, shop and guest ministry. Pilgrims ordinarily take both in one visit.
·The abbey is an enclosed working monastery with its own access rules, and it does not hold the relics. Do not go there expecting the shrine.
How to visit
A short, practical posture. The shrine will guide you the rest of the way.
Go to the village first
The single most common mistake at Eibingen is to drive up to the abbey, see no shrine, and leave. The relics are in the parish church down in the village. Take that first, and climb to the abbey afterwards.
Both places are worth it, for different reasons
The parish church holds her bones. The abbey holds a living Benedictine community that has carried her name and her spirit into the present century. Neither substitutes for the other, and the walk between them is short.
17 September is the day
If the procession matters to you, come on her feast. If quiet matters to you, come on any other day, when the church is ordinarily empty and the shrine is entirely approachable.
Bingen is across the river
Rupertsberg, where she died and was first buried, was on the Bingen side. Little survives, but the geography explains why her relics travelled and where they came from.
Check hours at the source
This is a parish church with locally set opening, not a sanctuary with published pilgrim hours. The parish of Heilig-Kreuz Rheingau is the authority. Access details on this page were last reviewed on 11 August 2026.
Connected saints & places
Every relic belongs to a saint, a church, and a city. Follow the connections outward: each one names its relationship to what is kept here.
Nearby sacred places
Each carries an honest travel cost. "Nearby" means reachable on the same pilgrimage, not merely thematically linked.
Abbey of St. Hildegard
The Benedictine abbey of women that carries her name, about a kilometre north of the parish church. A living monastery with its own church and guest ministry, and no relics.
How we hold this record
The custody of these relics is not in doubt. What is routinely got wrong is the address. Two Benedictine institutions in the same village carry Hildegard's name, and the relics are in the less famous one. This record was built to say which is which.
- Official The parish of Heilig-Kreuz Rheingau, which holds the church of St. Hildegard at Eibingen, in the Diocese of Limburg. Linked below.
- Official The city of Bingen's Hildegard heritage pages state that the Hildegardis shrine, with the bones of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, is kept in the Catholic parish church.
- Historical In 1857 the then parish priest Ludwig Schneider established the authenticity of the relics. The first Hildegard procession was held that year and has been kept every 17 September since.
- Historical The relics have been kept since 1929 in a gilded shrine designed at the abbey of Maria Laach and executed by a goldsmith in Cologne.
- Historical A fire of unknown cause on the night of 3 to 4 September 1932 burned the church to its foundation walls. The shrine was saved. The present church was consecrated in 1935 on the site of the convent Hildegard founded in 1165, which had become the parish church in 1831.
- Historical Hildegard died in 1179 at Rupertsberg and was buried there. Rupertsberg was destroyed by Swedish troops in 1632; the relics were saved and brought by way of Cologne to Eibingen, the nuns arriving in 1636.
- Careful note The institutional sources say bones. Fuller inventories of the shrine's contents circulate elsewhere but are not stated by either custodian.
- Careful note The Abbey of St. Hildegard is a separate, later foundation about a kilometre away. It is a living monastery worth visiting, and it does not hold the relics. Last reviewed 11 August 2026.
No claim is made here about the condition of the remains.
Public access varies with liturgy, security, and (where noted) reservation requirements. The official sources above should be consulted for current access before planning around it.