Franziskanerkloster Attendorn

The Franciscan Monastery of Our Lady of Sorrows was founded in the 17th century by Franciscan Observants. In 1636, Archbishop Ferdinand of Bavaria of Cologne granted permission for a settlement in Attendorn. Two years later, the city council agreed, but stipulated that the friars should teach the youth in the "liberal arts" and Catholic doctrine. Initially, the Franciscans rented a house with a chapel. Between 1648 and 1656, their own monastery building with a church was constructed. This church had to be demolished and rebuilt due to a construction error. The Capuchin friar Ambrosius von Oelde planned the new building, which was consecrated in 1682. Severe fires in 1742 and again in 1783 destroyed large parts of the complex, but the church was rebuilt from 1784 to 1790. After the secularization in 1804 and the dissolution of the monastery in 1822, the city of Attendorn used the buildings for a progymnasium. The monastery church temporarily served as an armory and stood empty until it was rented by Franciscans of the Saxon Province in 1898. During World War II, the church was damaged by an air raid in 1945 and later largely destroyed by a munition explosion. Despite protests, it was demolished in 1951; the town hall and the Sparkasse Attendorn headquarters were built in its place. A preserved portal was rebuilt on Klosterplatz in 2020.

The former Franciscan monastery is located in the city of Attendorn in the Olpe district, a region in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Today, the Rivius-Gymnasium, the highest school in the city of Attendorn, is housed on the site of the former monastery. A preserved portal of the former monastery church was re-erected on Klosterplatz in 2020.

• Kloster Ewig (Attendorn) (Sacred building, approx. 1702 m away)
• Burg Schnellenberg (Castle, approx. 1745 m away)
• Burgruine Waldenburg (Castle ruin, approx. 2538 m away)
• Schloss Ahausen (Heggen) (Castle, approx. 4137 m away)