Lippoldsberg Abbey

The origins of the monastery date back to the mid-11th century, when Archbishop Lippold of Mainz had an initial wooden church built in the area now known as Lippoldsberg. The strategically favorable location at a Weser ford and an important trade route was decisive for this. Archbishop Siegfried, Lippold's successor, vowed during his captivity in the Investiture Controversy to build a stone church in honor of Saint George. In 1086, Archbishop Ruthard founded a women's monastery or collegiate church on this site, and by about 1093, the first monastic buildings were constructed. The Benedictine nuns, who committed themselves to the rules of the Hirsau Reform, were first mentioned in a document between 1099 and 1101. Under Provost Gunther, a new, vaulted church was consecrated around 1151, considered the first building of its kind in the region.