Fraterherren St. Michael, Köln (Weidenbach)

The origins of the community date back to 1402 when six priests were granted the Weidenbach farm near Cologne as a fief. From this group, the establishment of the Brothers of the Common Life emerged in 1416, significantly promoted by Heinrich Humolt von Kurbach and Heinrich von Ahaus. The official founding took place in 1417 with the permission of Archbishop Dietrich II of Moers. Heinrich von Ahaus led the brotherhood from 1416 to 1419. In 1432, Pope Eugene IV approved a house chapel, which was consecrated to Saint Alexius in 1434. The chapel building was expanded into a single-nave church in 1490 and consecrated to the Holy Trinity, the Mother of God, and Archangel Michael in 1491. In the 15th century, the Brothers of the Common Life took other spiritual communities under their care and founded daughter houses in Marienthal, Königstein, and Butzbach. The community flourished until the 16th century, evident in its membership numbers and extensive book production. In 1475, Emperor Frederick III visited the monastery and placed it under his special protection. The friary existed until 1793. Under French occupation, the buildings served as a reformatory, then a prison for some time, and from 1802 as a barracks. During the expansion of these barracks in 1827, the Church of St. Michael was largely demolished.

The former St. Michael's Friary of the Brothers of the Common Life was located in Cologne, a major city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Only a small part of the original monastery complex remains today, as the church and other buildings had to make way for the expansion of a barracks in the 19th century. The site no longer serves as a sacred building.

• Fort IV (Cologne) (fortress, approx. 665 m away)
• Fort V (Cologne) (fortress, approx. 674 m away)
• Weißhaus Castle (Cologne) (castle, approx. 1484 m away)
• Cologne Cathedral (sacred building, approx. 1696 m away)