Marienmünster Abbey

Marienmünster Abbey (Abtei Marienmünster) is a former Benedictine monastery founded in 1128 in the rolling Weser Uplands of eastern North Rhine-Westphalia. Its church, with twin pointed west towers and a Baroque crossing dome, rises above open fields and hides a lavish Baroque interior with one of the finest historic organs in Westphalia. Today a cultural foundation uses the old farm buildings as concert halls, making this quiet rural abbey a rewarding stop for lovers of music and monastic history.

History

Count Widukind I of Schwalenberg and his wife Lutrud founded the abbey in 1128, and twelve monks came from the great Benedictine house of Corvey. After its medieval heyday, the abbey was devastated in the Thirty Years' War. From 1661, Abbot Ambrosius Langen rebuilt the Romanesque basilica as a hall church, and the west towers were renewed in the 1850s. Prussia dissolved the monastery in 1803. The church remains a Catholic parish church and pilgrimage site.

What to See

• The Möller organ of 1738: 42 stops and about 2,750 pipes, the best-preserved work of organ builder Johann Patroclus Möller, restored and rededicated in 2012.
• Baroque altars from around 1680 and a delicate painted wrought-iron choir screen from 1693.
• FORUM Abtei: a multimedia visitor center on the roughly 75 monasteries of the region.
• The abbey garden, replanted since 2014 according to Benedictine principles.
• A bat colony of greater mouse-eared bats in the church attic, streamed live via infrared camera.

Opening Hours and Tickets

As of October 2026, the church is usually open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and entry is free. The FORUM visitor center opens Friday and Saturday afternoons and on Sundays and holidays, but closes for winter from mid-October to mid-April. Information is mostly in German.

How to Get There

Marienmünster lies on the B239 road between Höxter and Steinheim, in a rural part of eastern Westphalia. The nearest larger cities are Paderborn and Hanover, and the nearest major airport is Paderborn-Lippstadt. A car is the most practical way to get here, although there is a bus stop at the abbey. Parking is available on site. The main church entrance has steps, but the rear entrance by the church parking lot offers step-free access via a ramp.

Is It Worth Visiting?

Yes, if you are exploring the Weser Uplands or visiting the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Corvey in nearby Höxter. Allow one to two hours, and check the concert calendar of the "Monastery of Sounds" for organ and chamber music evenings.