Helfta

Helfta was a Cistercian convent established in the early 13th century at Helfta, near Eisleben in present-day Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It grew into one of the most important centers of medieval female mysticism, attracting nuns from various noble families and producing a distinctive body of contemplative literature. The community is best known for its associations with Mechthild of Hackeborn and Gertrude the Great (Gertrude of Helfta), whose writings and letters contributed to 13th-century spirituality and influenced later mysticism.

During the Reformation era the abbey was dissolved and its properties secularized; the site subsequently declined, with only portions of the buildings surviving as ruins or being repurposed. In the modern era Helfta is remembered primarily for its spiritual legacy and its manuscripts, which some scholars preserve in European libraries; the Helfta circle's works provide insight into gendered religious life and late medieval mysticism. The location remains a subject of historical and theological study, and the site is associated with the town of Eisleben.