Marienmünster is a town in
Höxter
Höxter () is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the left bank of the river Weser, 52 km north of Kassel in the centre of the Weser Uplands. The main town's population is around 15,000, and with outlying centres, about 30,0 ...
district in
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Geography
Location
Marienmünster is North Rhine-Westphalia's smallest municipality by land area. It lies in the
Weserbergland
The Weser Uplands (German: ''Weserbergland'', ) is a hill region in Germany, between Hannoversch Münden and Porta Westfalica, along the river Weser. The area reaches into three states, Lower Saxony, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia. Important ...
, in the state's easternmost district, about 15 km north of
Brakel
Brakel () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek and the Flemish Ardennes. The name is derived from a Carolingian villa ''Braglo'' first mentioned in 866 and located in the center of Opbrakel. Since 1970, t ...
.
Neighbouring communities
Clockwise from the north, Marienmünster's neighbours are:
*
The Town of Schieder-Schwalenberg,
Lippe
Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe.
The d ...
district;
*
The Town of Höxter, Höxter district;
*
The Town of Brakel, Höxter district;
*
The Town of Nieheim, Höxter district;
*
The Town of Steinheim, Höxter district.
Constituent communities
Marienmünster consists of the following centres:
* Altenbergen – 519 inhabitants
* Born – 100 inhabitants
* Bremerberg – 122 inhabitants
* Bredenborn – 1,603 inhabitants
* Eilversen – 84 inhabitants
* Großenbreden – 103 inhabitants
* Hohehaus – 206 inhabitants
* Kleinenbreden – 126 inhabitants
* Kollerbeck with the farming community of Langenkamp – 778 inhabitants
* Löwendorf with the farming community of Saumer – 267 inhabitants
* Münsterbrock with the former abbey and the farming community of Oldenburg – 131 inhabitants
* Papenhöfen with the farming community of Bönekenberg – 234 inhabitants
* Vörden – 1,337 inhabitants
Climate
Marienmünster-Vörden's bioclimate and the surrounding area's displays a number of factors of varying intensity that make it quite agreeable and restful, giving the area the proper preconditions for using the climate in therapy. This goes for all times of year other than the winter months, when cold, dry weather takes hold under the influence of
Continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' (al ...
systems, and the Weserbergland,
Teutoburg Forest
The Teutoburg Forest ( ; german: Teutoburger Wald ) is a range of low, forested hills in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Until the 17th century, the official name of the hill ridge was Osning. It was first renamed th ...
and
Eggegebirge
The Egge Hills (german: Eggegebirge, ), or just the Egge (''die Egge'') is a range of forested hills, up to , in the east of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Geography
The Egge extends from the southern tip of the Teutoburg Forest ra ...
have their heights covered in snow.
History
The town of Marienmünster was formed on 1 January 1970 by merging the until then independent municipalities of Bredenborn, Vörden (both towns), Altenbergen, Born, Bremerberg, Eilversen, Großenbreden, Hohehaus, Kleinenbreden, Kollerbeck mit Langenkamp, Löwendorf mit Saumer, Münsterbrock mit Abtei, Oldenburg and Papenhöfen mit Bönekenberg. The town's administrative centre is in Vörden.
Großenbreden
Between the Oldenburg and Vörden, the ''Münsterholze'', the Hungerberg and Löwendorf lay until the first half of the 16th century a town named Wendedhen (1188), Winethe (1203), Winethen (1240), Wenethen (1241), Wenden (1430). The
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
s from Marienmünster earned their
tithe
A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...
s from this town.
According to the registers of the
Corvey
The Princely Abbey of Corvey (german: link=no, Fürststift Corvey or Fürstabtei Corvey) is a former Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastical principality now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was one of the half-dozen self-ruling '' princely ...
Monastery, the town was mentioned as early as 980 under the name "Wynithun". In the 16th century, the three villages of Großenbreden (Wendenbreden 1541, Wendelbreden 1650, Großenwendelbreden 1793), Kleinenbreden (Lütkenbreden 1650, Lükewendelbreden 1793) and Papenhöfen (earlier die Höfe zu Wenden 1545) developed. The farming community of Bönekenberg, belonging to Papenhöfen, was described as a settlement beginning in 1430. Settlement was established in the 16th century on the site of the failed village of Mechtestorpe (1138) or Mestorp (1339), where in the 9th and 10th centuries, the Corvey Monastery already had holdings.
Hohehaus
Hohehaus's history can be traced back to the earlier village of Dungen, which was named as early as 825 or thereabouts in the Corvey Traditions, the monastery's donation registers. The Corvey Monastery received at that time several donations and owned a main farm of 22 ''
Hufe
An oxgang or bovate ( ang, oxangang; da, oxgang; gd, damh-imir; lat-med, bovāta) is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England as early as the 16th century sometimes referred to as an oxgait. It averaged around 20 English ...
n'' here. Besides Corvey, the Marienmünster Abbey must have been working holdings here quite early on, too, since in 1339, Abbot Hermann von Mengersen surrendered half his earnings from the place to the Counts, the Lord of Everstein and his son Otto, to protect and defend the Abbey's holdings for six years. In 1360, evidence shows that the Corvey estates along with the
ecclesiastical fief, passed into Count Hermann von Pyrmont's hands. He in turn passed them as a direct fief to the von Kanne family.
There arose in the 16th century between the Count of
Pyrmont and the Corvey Monastery a boundary dispute that on 15 June 1535 was arbitrated to the effect that Dungen passed to the von Kanne family. In 1595, Dungen was still called a village. In a document from 1602, a new placename crops up, rendered ''"Dungen, itzo dat Hagehauß"'', archaic German for "Dungen, the house in the forest". Later, this was shortened to "Hagehaus", and by 1660, the current form "Hohehaus" had arisen.
Politics
Town council
Town council's 22 seats are apportioned as follows, in accordance with municipal elections held on 26 September 2004:
*
CDU 12 seats
*
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
3 seats
*UWG 4 seats
*Wähler Gemeinschaft Bürgernähe: 3 seats
Coat of arms
Marienmünster's civic
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
might heraldically be described thus: In argent an abbey gules with two side towers gules with pointed roofs sable and between these and behind the abbey a tower gules with cupola sable, on the abbey wall between the side towers an eight-pointed star Or.
The abbey in the arms is a stylized representation of the west façade of the Marienmünster abbey church established by Count Widukind III of Schwalenberg in 1128. Its meaning in relation to the town is therefore quite visible even today as a unifying symbol of town, people and church. The star is from the Schwalenberg family's arms.
This coat of arms was conferred on 25 July 1973.
Flag
The town's
flag
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...
is striped red and white lengthwise with the coat of arms in the middle.
Culture and sightseeing
Museums
* ''Aussichts- und Museumsturm'' (look-out and museum-tower). It is located next to the Hungerbergkapelle (see below) and recalls station no. 30 of the optical telegraph-line from
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
to
Koblenz
Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary.
Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...
.
Buildings
* Marienmünster is well known for the ''Abteikirche Marienmünster'', the former Marienmünster Abbey, with its
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
, which is well worth seeing and hearing.
* ''Schloss Vörden'' is a
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
stately home with a lovely park.
* The ''Hungerbergkapelle'' (
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
) is part of a complete
Way of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The stations grew out of imitati ...
with 14 stations.
* ''Mühlengrund'' in Hohehaus.
Economy and infrastructure
Tourism
The town of Marienmünster has a well-developed
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
industry. The community of Vörden was dubbed "State-recognized climatic spa" in 1999.
Education
In Marienmünster are three
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
s and a
Hauptschule
A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...
. Students who go to
Realschule
''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...
n and
Gymnasien are driven by bus to nearby towns such as
Bad Driburg
Bad Driburg () is a town and spa in Höxter (district), Höxter district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, situated on the river Aa (Nethe), Aa and the Altenbeken–Kreiensen railway.
Geography
Bad Driburg lies on the eastern slopes of the Egge ...
,
Höxter
Höxter () is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the left bank of the river Weser, 52 km north of Kassel in the centre of the Weser Uplands. The main town's population is around 15,000, and with outlying centres, about 30,0 ...
,
Steinheim and
Brakel
Brakel () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek and the Flemish Ardennes. The name is derived from a Carolingian villa ''Braglo'' first mentioned in 866 and located in the center of Opbrakel. Since 1970, t ...
.
The schools in Marienmünster are:
* Katholische Grundschule Bredenborn
* Grundschule Kollerbeck
* Grundschule Vörden
* Hauptschule der Stadt Marienmünster (Vörden)
Furthermore, the town of Marienmünster, together with the town of Höxter, runs the Höxter-Marienmünster
Volkshochschule
Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;'' ...
. Marienmünster also has two municipal
kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
s, and in Bredenborn a church kindergarten.
Sport and leisure
* 1 indoor
swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...
in Vörden
* 3
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
grounds (in Bredenborn, Kollerbeck and Vörden)
* 7 sports grounds
* 3
Kneipp wading pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built above ground (as ...
s
* 29 children's
playground
A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...
s
* 1 adventure playground in Vörden
* 1
miniature golf
Miniature golf, also known as minigolf, mini-putt, crazy golf, or putt-putt, is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is played ...
course in Vörden
* 3
gym
A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...
nasia in Bredenborn (big triple hall), Kollerbeck and Vörden
References
External links
Marienmünster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marienmunster
Höxter (district)