Beginenhof Deilinghofen

The Pastorat in Deilinghofen is a half-timbered house standing in Pastoratstraße 7, close to the Stephanuskirche. It consists of a main house with a stable extension. The building dates back to an unknown year but has been a city monument since 1983. Its predecessor once housed a community of women who lived together following the medieval Beguine tradition.

In 1564 a group of women formed a Beguine community in the old house. By 1638 forty sisters had died of the plague, leaving only a few survivors who later abandoned the house. From 1655 the building served as the parish house for the Protestant congregation of St. Stephanus. In 1765 Pastor Wilhelm Dümpelmann moved in and rebuilt the parish along the model of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine.

Today the house functions as a private home. Nearby the Widumstraße recalls the former Beguine house. The Stephanuskirche and the half-timbered structure together frame a quiet corner of Deilinghofen.