Stift Herzebrock

The Kanonissenstift Herzebrock began as a community of canonesses around 860 on family land near Osnabrück. Walburga, a Saxon widow, founded it with twenty farms and the support of her sons. Her daughter Duda became the first abbess after training at Liesborn, though the founding charter is now seen as a 11th-century forgery. By 900 the house held a relic of Saint Christina and was renamed for her. In 976 Emperor Otto II granted immunity, letting the nuns choose their own abbess and vogt. For centuries the Lippe family held the vogt rights, later passing them to Bentheim-Tecklenburg. The Ältere Herzebrocker Heberolle of 1069 lists estates and first mentions nearby villages. The community became a Benedictine nunnery in 1208 after Bishop Gerhard of Oldenburg intervened. The first abbess, Beatrix of Oldenburg, gained spiritual jurisdiction, but the house lost much independence. After a fire in 1313 the buildings were rebuilt, and pilgrims came for the Christina relic. In the 15th century wars with Tecklenburg stripped lands, yet reforms under Sophia von Stromberg restored discipline and joined the Bursfelde Congregation.