Stift Asbeck

The Stift Asbeck stands in Asbeck, now part of Legden in the Münster region. Founded in the 12th century as a double monastery for men and women, it became a women’s convent by 1173. In the 16th century it changed into a free-worldly noble ladies’ foundation that lasted until 1805. The site grew wealthy through tithes, gifts and land purchases, owning rights in thirty-six villages by 1151. Bishops of Münster protected the convent, while the emperor in Vienna finally approved appointments. The last imperial agent, Franz Anton Edler von Ditterich, represented Asbeck in the Austrian capital until the foundation closed in 1805. Visitors today find the Romanesque church of St Margareta, the former abbess’s house and a dormitory still standing. A 17th-century gatehouse and a mill remain from the original complex. The two-storey cloister arcade, dismantled in Münster in the 19th century, was rebuilt here in 2004. The buildings now host events and an exhibition on the Stift’s history.