Brenkhausen Abbey

The Monastery of Brenkhausen was founded around 1240. Cistercian nuns, who had previously settled in Ottbergen and Brückenfeld, established themselves next to the existing parish church around 1245. A fire in 1276 destroyed parts of the complex, which was subsequently rebuilt in the 1280s. Construction was completed in 1320, followed by the consecration of the church. In the late 14th century, a monastic school and a girls' boarding house existed. After a period of decline in the 16th century, the monastery was reoccupied in 1595 and re-established with Benedictine nuns from Corvey in 1601. The Thirty Years' War caused devastation, but reconstruction began again from 1630. In 1803, the monastery was secularized and subsequently used for agricultural purposes.