DEUTSCHLAND	GERMANY
Bundesland: Freistaat Bayern	Bavaria
Regierungsbezirk: Oberfranken
Landkreis: Kulmbach

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Himmelkron is situated at an elevation of 359 m on the river Weißer Main in the administrative region Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) of Bavaria. The history of Himmelkron goes back to the Cistercian nunnery "Corona coeli" (Crown of Heaven), which was founded here in 1279 by the count Otto IV of Orlamünde on the site of his castle at Pretzendorf, which originally had belonged to the dukes of Andechs-Meranien in the 12th century. The convent flourished during the 14th and 15th century, but was finally dissolved in 1569. The buildings then came in possession of the margraves of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. After the dissolution of the convent the name of the convent gradually also became the name of the village. The Margraves of Brandenburg-Bayreuth extended the buildings with a new residential castle after 1700. Since 1892/93 the former convent and the residence are used by the Diakoniewerk Neuendettelsau. Since 1942, parts of the complex are used for the accomodation of handicapped people.

The former convent church [background left], dating from the 13th century, still is the landmark of Himmelkron. During restoration works in 1991, eight painted sandstone panels dating from about 1490 were uncovered in the church. These eight panels are now exhibited in the museum of Himmelkron together with three further panels that had been in the museum before. Further sights of the church are the epitaphs of the mebers of the Orlamünde family, among them the epitaph of abbess Agnes of Orlamünde (d.1354).