Gertrude of Hackeborn
Cistercian abbess
Feast: 15 November (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Gertrude of Hackeborn, sister of St Mechtilde, was elected abbess of her convent at nineteen, and in 1258 moved her community to Helfta, which under her became the most famous home of asceticism and mysticism in Germany.
She had her nuns educated in the liberal arts and above all in Holy Scripture. In her last illness she gave an example of heroic patience. She died in 1292.
The miracles
The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that she has not been canonised and should not be confused with St Gertrude the Great, a nun of the same convent.
Why that counted as sanctity
A wise abbess who made Helfta a school of holiness.
Connected on this site
- Mechtilde Saint Brother or sister“Mechtilde, of a noble Thuringian family and sister of Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn, was so frail at birth that she was rushed to baptism; the priest foretold she would become a holy nun.” — this site's research
- Gertrude the Great Saint“At five she entered the school of the Benedictine monastery of Helfta, then governed by the abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn, and was entrusted to St Mechtilde, with whom she formed a lifelong friendship.” — this site's research
- Mechthild of Magdeburg Saint“In 1270, she tended the sick and gave shelter to Beguine Mechthild of Magdeburg.” — Wikipedia
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Gertrude of Hackeborn
- Wikidata Q4949921 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Gertrude of Hackeborn (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.