Frauenstift Geseke

The Canonesses' Collegiate Church was founded in 946 by Count Haold and his siblings. Wichburga, one of his sisters, became the first abbess, while Count Haold served as the first vogt. As early as 952, King Otto I confirmed the foundation, granting it immunity and the privilege of free election of the abbess, rights that King Otto III renewed in 986. In 1014, Abbess Hildegund renounced the status of an immediate imperial abbey and placed the collegiate church under the protection of the Archbishop of Cologne, who henceforth appointed the vogt. The founder's family endowed the collegiate church with extensive properties, including St. Martin's Chapel. Later donations from Saxon kings and Archbishops of Cologne, such as St. Peter's Church by Archbishop Anno II, significantly expanded its possessions. By around 1400, the collegiate church's property included 29 main farms, 150 dependent manses, and three mills. Since approximately 965, the collegiate church also held the relics of St. Cyriacus. The canonesses dedicated themselves to ecclesiastical services such as masses, processions, and commemorations of the dead, with choral service playing a central role. Alms-giving on high feast days was also among their duties. The attached canonries took over pastoral care and ran a boys' school from at least 1354. A dedicated school building, the collegiate school, was erected in 1608. In the 18th century, there were also girls' schools for a time. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the collegiate church increasingly transformed into an institution for the provision of unmarried noblewomen. During the Reformation, some canonesses converted to Protestantism, and the collegiate church suffered financial losses. Following the Prussian takeover of the region in the early 19th century, the collegiate church was effectively dissolved in 1823 after the death of the last abbess. However, the collegiate church's assets are still managed today as the “Geseker Stiftsfonds.”

The former Canonesses' Collegiate Church of St. Cyriakus is located in the town of Geseke in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

The former collegiate church of St. Cyriakus continues to serve as a parish church and is part of the Pastoral Association Geseke-Stadt in the Archdiocese of Paderborn.

• Ruine Störmede (ruin, approx. 3114 m away)
• Schloss Eringerfeld (castle, approx. 6477 m away)
• Ruine Vernaburg (Verne) (ruin, approx. 6545 m away)
• Schloss Schwarzenraben (castle, approx. 6910 m away)