Dalheim Abbey is set in charming countryside. It is one of the few former abbeys in northern Germany to offer visitors a complete impression of a baroque abbey complex.

In the world of Augustinian canons
Dalheim Abbey, 20km south-east of Paderborn, is an impressive sight. It is a medieval abbey, almost fully preserved, with a perimeter wall and large residential and agricultural buildings around a large courtyard. At the centre of the courtyard are the church and the abbey building itself. The earliest records of an abbey on this site date back to 1264. At that time it was an Augustinian convent but this fell into decline and was dissolved. The Augustinian canons who took up residence in 1429 built a new church and large monastic buildings in the valley to the west of the old wing. The beauty and the scale of the abbey complex continue to fascinate visitors to Dalheim even today.

The abbey enjoyed its greatest prosperity during the baroque era. Today's visitors can still see the complex as it was then, with its magnificent court of honour and extensive gardens. Dalheim also illustrates the way in which abbeys remained self-sufficient into the modern period. The trades and crafts essential for daily life were all represented here. A smithy, a grain mill and a wheelwright's workshop are among the various workshops that have been restored and still have their original inventory. Another highlight is the prior's raised garden, which is still in use today as a kitchen and ornamental garden. The abbey garden has been restored and there is also a medicinal herb garden. The splendour of the baroque gardens is captured in an oil painting of 1739.
» www.kloster-dalheim.de

A selection of other abbeys/abbey museums in Germany