The Katharinenhof in

Kranenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia Kranenburg is a town and municipality in the district of Cleves in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border with the Netherlands, south-east of Nijmegen and west of Cleves. Since 1992, Kranenburg has evolve ...

, Germany, was used from 1446 until 1802 as the home of a convent of

sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. After that time, the building served various uses. Since 1961, the house serves as a museum.

History

Convent of Sisters

It was in 1445 that Henrik Housteen, who then was the chef of the kitchen of the duke of

Kleve Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...

, donated to the nuns the house in the millstreet (''Mühlenstraße'') in Kranenburg, so that they could found a subsidiary of their convent there. In 1446 the convent moved with the approval of the duke to that house. In 1472 the sisters adopted the

Rule of St. Augustine The Rule of Saint Augustine, written about the year 400, is a brief document divided into eight chapters and serves as an outline for religious life lived in community. It is the oldest monastic rule in the Western Church. The rule, developed b ...

. In 1802 the Katharinen-convent was secularized.

Usage of the building after 1802

After the convent was closed, the monastery-building served temporarily as a police office and finally was furbished up to be used as a school-building. During the Drittes Reich it was the accommodation of the NSV-kindergarten. ''NSV'' stands for Nationalistische Volkswohlfahrt. After the Second World War the building, which was only shopworn, was used as a compensatory church. In 1959/1960 the premises were thoroughly renovated. Since 1961 it is the home of the ''Museum Katharinenhof''. Owner of the museum is the ''Verein Für Heimatschutz 1922 e. V., Kranenburg''. In 1984 the building got an outbuilding, which allows for a larger exhibition space of the museum.

External links

Museum Katharinenhof
{{coord, 51.78884, 6.00776, format=dms, type:landmark_region:DE, display=title Augustinian monasteries in Germany Monasteries in North Rhine-Westphalia Buildings and structures in Kleve (district)

History

Convent of Sisters

Usage of the building after 1802

Further reading

External links