Loccum is a village situated about 50 kilometres west-northwest of Hanover in the district of Nienburg in Lower-Saxony, Germany. It has been a part of the city of Rehburg-Loccum since 1974. Loccum covers an area of 32 square kilometres with a population of about 3166 people in 2003. Loccum Abbey was founded in 1163 by Cistercian monks from Volkenroda Abbey in Thuringia, becoming a Lutheran monastery around 1600. It is one of the best preserved buildings of its kind in Germany.