Böddeken Abbey (Büren)

Böddeken is a historic settlement in the northeast of the city of Büren in the district of Paderborn. The former monastery and current estate of Böddeken is located in a karst valley of the Paderborn plateau at the intersection of state roads L751 and L 818, about 2 km southeast of Wewelsburg Castle. The valley areas of the estate are traversed by a tributary of the Dahlgosse, a temporary watercourse that flows into the Alme a few kilometers north near Niederntudorf.

In the history of the Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn, Böddeken Monastery, dissolved by Prussia in 1802, was one of the most important monastic houses in Westphalia. In the 15th century, it was even one of the most influential monasteries in Germany with a European reach.

The oldest monastery of the Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn was founded in 836 by the Paderborn Archdeacon Meinolf as a women's collegiate foundation. Only Corvey Abbey, founded in 815, was older, but it soon gained its independence from the Bishop of Paderborn. Little is known about the early history of the house. The foundation is directly related to the translation of the relics of St. Liborius from Le Mans to Paderborn. Meinolf vowed to build the women's monastery in Bodicon. Legend has it that a stag with a cross in its antlers appeared to Meinolf at this spot. Over the years, the canonesses' collegiate foundation became an influential and wealthy monastery. More and more, only women of noble background were admitted. Since the 11th century, it came to be known as a canonesses' collegiate foundation.

It seems to have been economic difficulties that led to the decline of the monastery in the 14th century. Also, originally religious tasks receded into the background due to the house's function of providing for noble women.

The internal refoundation followed at the beginning of the 15th century through the reform movement of the Windesheim Congregation. Initially, in 1408/09, the Paderborn Prince-Bishop Wilhelm (1382-1428) transferred the rights to Dutch Augustinian canons from the monastery of Windesheim near Zwolle. These joined the reform movements and made the monastery one of the largest German monasteries, with more than 40 canons and over 170 lay brothers. The canons followed a very modest and laborious code, which not only led the monastery itself to flourish but also enriched many other monasteries in Europe. Canons from Böddeken also migrated to Switzerland and France. The reform monastery itself was a magnet for many visitors. Closely associated with this reconstruction and fame is the church reformer and historian Gobelin Person, trained in papal Italy, who died in Böddeken in 1421.

The Reformation period, unlike in other parts of the Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn, had no lasting effects. Nevertheless, the monastery could no longer build on its heyday. From the period between 1502 and 1543, the lay brother Göbel reported on monastic life.

In anticipation of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803, Prussian troops occupied the Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn on August 3, 1802. On February 19, 1803, officials and soldiers dissolved the Augustinian monastery, and the estate with over 670 acres of agricultural land became a state domain for the treasury as part of the secularization. Canon Welschof recorded his indignation at the time:

It looked quite pagan, and one would have thought it was the district of Büren, Josef von Hartmann, acquired and later passed to the von Mallinckrodt family through marriage.

Current Use

The estate administration of Mallinckrodt manages the entire complex, which still belongs to the von Mallinckrodt family today. The estate and its lands continue to be managed as an agricultural enterprise. Since 1978, a specialized boarding school with 51 places for children has been located in the east wing of the former convent building. Since 2008, a private residential primary school has been established at Böddeken, complementing the boarding school.

The complex is only partially and externally accessible to the public (gate entrance at the bus stop).