Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), who was later canonised, experienced visions of Christ in her childhood and entered the Disibodenberg convent of the Benedictine nuns early on. She was very versatile and was active as an artist, scientist, mystic, alternative practitioner and poet. Around the year 1150 she had the Rupertsberg convent near Bingen built at the mouth of the Nahe into the Rhine and settled it with 18 nuns. This was destroyed in 1632 during the Thirty Years War. Today's individual sites of Rupertsberg Abbey, Hildegardisbrünnchen and Klosterberg in the Bingen-Bingersbrück district of the Nahe wine growing region are a reminder of this.
As the second still existing monastery it founded in 1165 Eibingen on the other side of the Rhine above Rüdesheim. Hildegard sent nuns from Ruppertsberg there and led both monasteries. According to the old tradition of the Benedictine order the nuns also cultivated vineyards.
Hildegard von Bingen knew already from childhood about wine and called it "blood of the earth". She praised its cleansing effect on the blood, juices and vessels of man and said: "Wine, enjoyed in moderation, heals and delights man deeply through its great power and warmth". Her main medical work was "Causae et Curae" (Causes and Treatment of Diseases), which appeared around 1150. It describes numerous diseases and their treatment, especially through medicinal herbs, which are often mixed with wine according to her recipes. For stomach ailments, Hildegard recommends a drink made from plant extracts and two thirds wine, which should be drunk warmed on an empty stomach, as well as Christmas rose wine (that is why this plant is also called vine flower). She also describes many recipes for heart wine, cough wine, wound wine, quenched wine and vinegar against various diseases and mental problems.
Hildegard von Bingen or wine enjoyment: "Noble, strong wine excites the veins and blood of man in an unjust way and draws all the moisture that is in man, like cleansing potions do, and forces the urine to flow before the right time. Hungarian wine does not do this. Therefore, strong wines must be softened by bread that is put in it, or by adding water. Hungarian wine (Hun wine) does not need to be softened in this way, but if someone wants to add water or bread and drink it in this way, then it is more pleasant to drink, but not healthier". It gives the advice to drink wine or beer instead of water in winter.
In 1900 the Benedictine Abbey of St. Hildegard above Eibingen near Rüdesheim was founded in her memory. The nuns run the attached monastery vineyard Abtei St. Hildegard.