Zisterzienserinnenkloster Fröndenberg

The monastery of Fröndenberg was founded around 1230 by Archbishop Heinrich von Molenark of Cologne. The first Cistercian nuns came from Hoven, now Zülpich. The institution was placed under the patronage of the Saints Mary and Maurice. Otto von Altena financed the foundation, and his sister Richardis became the first abbess, as documented by charters between 1257 and 1270. From 1262 to 1391, the collegiate church served as the burial place for the Counts of the Mark. In the 16th century, the monastery was transformed into a secular women's collegiate foundation. Around 1650, it developed into an interdenominational simultaneum, providing for unmarried daughters of Lutheran, Reformed, and Roman Catholic nobility. The foundation owned 187 farms within a radius of up to 20 kilometers. Permission to build a bridge over the Ruhr was granted to the foundation as late as 1805. The foundation was dissolved on January 1, 1812, as part of the secularization.

The former monastery is located in Fröndenberg in the Märkischer Kreis, a region in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The collegiate area is situated on a terrace sloping down towards the Ruhr river.

The collegiate church now serves as an Evangelical parish church. Parts of the historical building fabric are still preserved, including the abbey buildings from 1607 and 1661, the Boeselagerhaus from 1783, and a collegiate house from 1661. Remains of the cloister with round and pointed arch arcades can also be seen directly at the church. The Gothic hall church with a straight eastern end and a central roof turret was built from green sandstone ashlar starting in the mid-13th century.

• Kotten Castle (Bösperde) (castle, approx. 1824 m away)
• Ardey Ruin (ruin, approx. 2280 m away)
• Haus Schoppe (manor house and estate, approx. 3899 m away)
• Dahlhausen Castle (Halingen) (castle, approx. 4047 m away)