Rietberg Abbey

After the County of Rietberg had been predominantly Protestant for about seventy years, the reintroduction of the Catholic faith began around 1610. Initially, Jesuits were responsible for missionary work. In 1618, Count Johann III and his wife Sabina Catharina founded a Franciscan monastery to strengthen the Catholic faith. The first monastery buildings were completed by 1621, with further additions to the south of the church following in 1726. The foundation stone for the St. Katharina monastery church was also laid in 1618, and its consecration took place in 1629. A monastery fire in 1935 damaged the church. The Franciscan monastery was dissolved in 1969, and the buildings were taken over by the Rietberg Youth Organization.