Discover Marienmünster

Marienmünster brings together sacred art, historic buildings, and trails for hikers and cyclists.

Abbey, Art and Concerts

The former Benedictine Abbey of Marienmünster preserves sacred art treasures, including Baroque structures dating from 1683 to 1685. Top-class concerts are regularly held in the abbey church and the concert halls of Marienmünster Monastery. If a concert is key to planning your trip, check the dates in advance.

The abbey also has a visitor centre where you can learn about the region’s monasteries through multimedia exhibits. A map projected onto the floor enables interactive animations and information films. The abbey garden shows which plants monasteries used in their diets and which they used to alleviate ailments. The statue of the Virgin Mary in the woods near the abbey church is also a religious site: it stands on a tall rubble-stone masonry plinth and was erected as a pilgrimage site for the veneration of the Virgin Mary at the request of many visitors and pilgrimage groups.

Architecture and Technology in Vörden and Altenbergen

The Baroque manor house of Vörden Castle stands in Vörden. It was built in 1730 on the site of a former castle. Its architectural features include a central avant-corps, corner pavilion, garden parterre and courtyard with farm buildings. In Altenbergen, the historic windmill is a remarkable technical monument and the largest preserved monument of its kind in the region. Together, these buildings offer different insights into the architectural and technological history of the town.

The GPS and orchard educational trail in Marienmünster-Vörden is aimed primarily at young people and families with children. Its seven stations offer information, short quiz questions and other activities about traditional orchards. Themed Trail of Wood at the abbey offers a different focus: the approximately one-kilometre trail is designed to be accessible and explains the role of beech and oak trees in monastic life at eleven stations.

Hiking, Cycling and Pilgrimage

Marienmünster has 130 kilometres of marked hiking trails and numerous cycling routes. The Europaradweg R1 passes through the town; its long-distance route runs from the Netherlands through Germany and Poland towards the Baltic states and Saint Petersburg. The Wellness Route also passes through the town, connecting health resorts in East Westphalia. These routes have different focuses: the R1 is a long-distance cycle route, while the Wellness Route is a regional connection between health resorts.

The ecumenical pilgrimage trail “Weg der Stille” (Path of Silence) begins in medieval Schwalenberg, runs for about 41 kilometres through the landscapes of the town of Marienmünster and continues to the banks of the Weser. The Monastery Garden Route starts at the former Benedictine Abbey of Marienmünster and can be comfortably cycled in five stages. For planning purposes, these details about the route and stages can serve as a guide, but they do not indicate a specific cycling or walking time.

Leisure Facilities in Vörden

The indoor leisure pool in Vörden offers a Roman steam bath, a whirlpool, a large sauna area, a paddling pool, a swimming pool and a spacious sunbathing lawn. Check the latest operating information before your visit if the pool is important to your trip planning.

Within the Wider Destination of Höxter

The wider destination of Höxter encompasses culture, nature and active holidays in the hilly low mountain landscapes of the Teutoburg Forest and the Weser Uplands. “Erlesene Natur” (Selected Nature) includes numerous protected areas of European importance; the region’s landscapes range from beech forests rich in orchids and natural streams to rocky outcrops, nutrient-poor grasslands, juniper heaths and moors.

The Monastery Garden Route can also be viewed in this regional context: it is about 315 kilometres long and can be cycled in five stages of 52 to 67 kilometres each. In Marienmünster, it starts at the former Benedictine Abbey. Another regional cycle route, the 65-kilometre Netheradweg, follows the Nethe from its source to its mouth at the Weser and runs between Bad Driburg and Höxter.

Discover more destinations: Vörden, Gehrden, Steinheim, Brakel, Beverungen, Nieheim, Borgentreich, Merlsheim.

Return to the overview of the wider destination: Höxter.