Steterburg Abbey

Around the year 1000, Frederunda von Oelsburg, daughter of Count Altmann von Oelsburg, founded the Stift Steterburg on the site of a dilapidated castle. Her father had decreed that a convent for virgins should be established there, and Frederunda endowed it with her inheritance before becoming the first abbess herself. King Heinrich II confirmed the foundation in 1007. Initially, the canonesses did not live in enclosure, wore secular clothing, and were allowed private property and marriage. In the 12th century, the collegiate church was transformed into an Augustinian canonesses' convent. Under provosts such as Gerhard von Riechenberg and Gerhard von Steterburg, stricter rules were introduced, including enclosure and the abolition of private property. In the 14th and 15th centuries, many canonesses came from patrician families in Braunschweig. The Reformation led to its conversion into an Evangelical women's convent in 1568, with the vow of celibacy being abolished.