Kloster Dalheim

Kloster Dalheim is a former Augustinian monastery near Lichtenau in the Kreis Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. After more than 800 years of history — as a medieval women's convent, an Augustinian Canons' foundation, a Baroque flourishing, a Prussian state domain and a farm estate — the almost completely preserved complex has entered a new era. Since 2007 it has housed the Stiftung Kloster Dalheim · LWL-Landesmuseum für Klosterkultur, one of the 20 museums of the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL). The museum is jointly operated by the LWL and the Stiftung Kloster Dalheim, and its director is Ingo Grabowsky. The site presents permanent and special exhibitions on monastic cultural history in newly designed exhibition rooms. The museum includes the late-Gothic monastery church and the cloister, a 7.5-hectare outdoor area with a Baroque economic courtyard, mill, smithy and wheelwright's shop, restored monastery gardens, and its own brewery within today's Klosterwirtshaus. The monastery and the neighbouring settlement of Dalheim lie southwest of Lichtenau in a side valley of the Altenau on the western slope of the Eggegebirge, within the Teutoburger Wald / Eggegebirge Nature Park. As a brand and visitor attraction, Kloster Dalheim combines historic architecture with interactive staging. Its programme includes major special exhibitions such as "Die Macht der Regeln! Zwischen Freiheit und Kontrolle", the annual Dalheimer Klostermarkt, inclusive public guided tours, garden exhibitions on sustainable gardening, and family days. Historic crafts are kept alive: the bakery fires a 200-year-old stone oven, the distillery produces spirits once used as medicine, and products such as Dalheimer Klosterbräu, liqueurs and Dalheimer honey are sold in the monastery shop. The museum also offers accessible content in Leichte Sprache, audio support and German Sign Language videos. Kloster Dalheim's identity is thus both a heritage site and a public cultural brand: a place of preservation, research and interpretation of monastic culture, run under public ownership and offering a distinctive range of exhibitions, events and locally made products.

Kloster Dalheim is a former Augustinian Canons' monastery near Lichtenau in the Kreis Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Archaeological finds suggest settlement of the site since the 1st century BC. In the Middle Ages Dalheim apparently already had a small parish church around the year 800. A successor to this building served in the second half of the 12th century as the monastery church for a women's convent founded and based in Dalheim. The small Dalheim women's community never achieved great or supra-regional importance. Financial difficulties, violent destruction, climatic deterioration and above all the plague wave of the 14th century caused problems for the nuns. Finally, the monastery was abandoned towards the end of the 14th century. Remains of the church were uncovered in 1990 by an excavation of the Westphalian Museum of Archaeology – Office for Monument Preservation, Münster (today: LWL Archaeology for Westphalia). After the decline of the first settlement and the dissolution of the women's monastery, the site was resettled in 1429 by Augustinian Canons from Kloster Böddeken (near Wewelsburg in today's Kreis Paderborn). In 1452 Dalheim regained the rank of an independent monastery. Because the monastery buildings were in poor condition, the monastery was completely rebuilt in the following years: west of the old complex in the valley, a new church and spacious convent buildings were erected. Around 1500, 24 canons and 100 lay brothers lived in Kloster Dalheim. It was considered the spiritual and economic centre of the southern Paderborn region. The Reformation had no consequences for the monastery in the still Catholic region. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), however, severely damaged the previously wealthy Dalheim convent economically. The witch trials that Bishop Dietrich von Fürstenberg conducted in 1600/01 against the prior, sub-prior and two other canons of Kloster Dalheim caused a great stir. The four canons were accused of engaging in magical gatherings alongside their spiritual duties. For almost a year, Prior Lucas Wasinck, the sub-prior, the procurator and the granarius responsible for the economy sat in the dungeon at Schloss Neuhaus, where one of the conventuals died. According to some traditions from the Dalheim convent, power-political intrigues were responsible for the arrests, with the territorial claims of the Paderborn prince-bishop Dietrich von Fürstenberg said to be the cause. In the end, however, the survivors were acquitted. The law faculty in Würzburg produced an expert opinion that acquitted the Dalheim brothers. Finally, the sovereign negotiated a settlement with the canons. In return for their release, the prior, sub-prior and procurator agreed to an annual grain levy by the monastery. After laborious reconstruction work, the monastery experienced its greatest flourishing in the Baroque period. Above all Bartholdus Schonlau, prior since 1708, drove the expansion of Dalheim and shaped an impressive overall complex. He boasted of having erected as many buildings in the 23 years of his tenure as there were years. This phase, in which the representative monastic court of honour, the spacious economic buildings and the extensive gardens were created, still largely defines Dalheim's appearance today. Around 1800, Kloster Dalheim owned almost 21,000 Morgen of land, the villages of Oesdorf and Meerhof (today part of the town of Marsberg in the Hochsauerlandkreis) with their inhabitants, and, instead of lay brothers, about 200 employed farm labourers who cultivated 1,250 Morgen of land. In the course of secularisation, the monastery was dissolved in 1803 and leased as a state domain. The dissolution of Dalheim did not initially pay off as expected. Several tenants of the domain could not make profits even by selling the monastery inventory. Only in the second half of the 19th century did Dalheim develop into an agricultural estate with regular profits. Secularisation also involved the repurposing of existing buildings. Cattle stood in the church and cloister, or straw and grain were stored there. Further installations and the construction of new buildings, such as a new sheepfold, enlarged the area for economic use. Until the 1970s, Kloster Dalheim was used as an agricultural operation. Since the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) acquired the monastery complex in 1979, extensive funds have been spent on securing the stock, partial dismantling and careful conversion into a modern museum. Since 2002, the construction measures have been accompanied by exhibitions. Since 2007 the former monastery has housed the Stiftung Kloster Dalheim · LWL-Landesmuseum für Klosterkultur, one of the 20 museums of the LWL. The museum is jointly operated by the LWL and the Stiftung Kloster Dalheim. In its newly designed exhibition rooms, the museum presents permanent and special exhibitions on monastic cultural history. The museum includes the late-Gothic monastery church and the cloister, the 7.5-hectare outdoor area with Baroque economic courtyard, mill, smithy and wheelwright's shop, as well as the restored monastery gardens and its own brewery within today's Klosterwirtshaus. The monastery and the neighbouring settlement of Dalheim lie southwest of Lichtenau in a side valley of the Altenau on the western slope of the Eggegebirge. The monastery lies in the Teutoburger Wald / Eggegebirge Nature Park.

• 2007

  The Stiftung Kloster Dalheim · LWL-Landesmuseum für Klosterkultur opens in the former monastery.

• 2002

  Construction measures are accompanied by exhibitions.

• 1990

  Excavation uncovers remains of the church.

• 1979

  The Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) acquires the monastery complex.

• 1803

  The monastery is dissolved in the course of secularisation and leased as a state domain.

• 1708

  Bartholdus Schonlau becomes prior and drives the Baroque expansion of Dalheim.

• 1600

  Witch trials against the prior, sub-prior and two other canons; they are eventually acquitted.

• 1500

  Around 1500, 24 canons and 100 lay brothers live in Kloster Dalheim.

• 1452

  Dalheim regains the rank of an independent monastery.

• 1429

  Resettlement by Augustinian Canons from Kloster Böddeken.

• A small parish church apparently exists in Dalheim.

• A successor to the parish church serves a women's convent founded in Dalheim in the second half of the 12th century.

A publicly owned museum and heritage site dedicated to monastic culture, combining preserved historic architecture with modern interactive exhibitions and living historic crafts.

• Dalheimer Klosterbräu

  Beer produced in the monastery brewery.

• Liqueurs

  Spirits from the monastery distillery.

• Dalheimer honey

  Honey produced in Dalheim.

• Bakery products

  Bread and cakes baked in the historic stone oven.

• Witch trials of 1600/01

Read more

• Die Macht der Regeln! Zwischen Freiheit und Kontrolle
• Dalheimer Klostermarkt
• Et labora! Handwerk im Kloster
• Bitte Wurzeln schlagen! Nachhaltig gärtnern

1. 1LWL | Kloster Dalheim: Hier trifft mittelalterliche Architektur auf interaktive Inszenierung - Stiftung Kloster Dalheimstiftung-kloster-dalheim.lwl.org
2. 2LWL | Dalheimer Geschichte - Stiftung Kloster Dalheimstiftung-kloster-dalheim.lwl.org
3. 3LWL | Historisches Handwerk - Stiftung Kloster Dalheimstiftung-kloster-dalheim.lwl.org
4. 4LWL | 800 Jahre Kloster Dalheim - Stiftung Kloster Dalheimstiftung-kloster-dalheim.lwl.org
5. 5Kloster Dalheimwikidata.org
6. 6Kloster Dalheim (Lichtenau)de.wikipedia.org