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The tomb of Friedrich von Stein and his wife Fye Voß von Diebach

On the south wall of the second nave case bays you can see the tomb of Friedrich von Stein and his wife Fye (Sophie) Voß von Diebach dating back to the first half of the 15th century. The restoration was the first task carried out by the society Abbey Sayn in 1981.
According to the report from the restorer: „The monument of the married couple which is made of fine light yellow sand stone, has been painted with a dense coat of oil, that most certainly needs to be removed as the stone is showing signs of decay under the air-tight varnish “. After seven coats of oil paint had been removed the original coloring could be hardened and as such restored. The restorer was of the opinion that – apart from slight additions to the facial traits and the clothes -no further action was necessary. As such it was decided explicitly not to completely redo the tomb.
The married couple is shown in a praying stance, Friedrich von Stein as a knight, albeit without a helmet, but with chain mail, which is visible in detail now the painting over has been removed. The woman is wearing a large headdress; her coat which is pleated fastens with a neck collar. The features of both have been depicted in an individual and lively way which resembles a portrait and which seems to aim at being life-like.  
The Steins were fortification keeps of the Sayn earls to whom they were connected by fief contracts as in Nassau to the local earls. Fye’s father had been castle keep in Sayn and his daughter had inherited all his fiefdom goods from him after his death in 1389. Of that above all the castle keep was of significance, later known as the  „Kaff“ and which protected the ascent to the Sayn fortification. Even today we can find there as on the monument the crest of Stein with the rose. The fortification keep survived the destruction of the main fortification during the thirty years war and was still inhabited in the 19th century. Until 1802 it remained in the possession of the most famous member of the family, the Prussian statesman Heinrich Friedrich Karl Baron vom und zum Stein. This family is also commemorated by the tomb of the knight Dederich von Stein (died in 1534), that is at present still waiting to be reinstalled in the inner court of the abbey.


See Dietrich Schabow: Sayner Burgmannen.
In: Sayn – Ort und Fürstenhaus, edited by Alexander Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, Bendorf-Sayn 1979, S. 100ff.


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