In 1185, Count Heinrich Ivon Arnsberg donated his main farm in Rumbeck to the Wedinghausen monastery, which had been founded shortly before in 1170. The place name "rurae becke" refers to the stream to the Ruhr, which passes the farmstead. The last-founded Rumbeck monastery made the Arnsberg monastery landscape complete, consisting of the monasteries of Wedinghausen as the leading monastery, as well as Oelinghausen (women's monastery, founded in 1178) and Rumbeck (also a women's monastery, founded in 1190). The first choir ladies in Rumbeck came from Bredelar, where a Premonstratensian monastery had been founded.

was abandoned and the nuns there had to be assigned a new home.

From small beginnings, Rumbeck became a central economic location in the Ruhr valley over the course of the monastery's almost 900-year history. The main farm (175 hectares of land, 725 hectares of forest) continued to operate and served to supply the monastery. Around 60 people worked there, living in small houses in the immediate vicinity. This is how the village of Rumbeck came into being. The monastery also had an additional staff of more than 30 people, mainly 20 choir ladies and 10 sisters. The monastery as a whole was led by a provost who was elected from the convent of Wedinghausen Monastery.

The Rumbeck provosts were very successful and led the monastery to ever new economic

Success. The monastery became increasingly richer. This prosperous history came to an abrupt end under Napoleon. In 1804 the monastery was dissolved and transferred to state administration. The monastery property was initially looked after by an administrator, but later the state sold the business to a private agricultural entrepreneur. The granary, the ruins of which are still visible today, burned down in 1914 along with the prioress's residence.

The latter was rebuilt in a shortened form as a parish hall with a different use. The former hospital and the school, which completed the building ensemble to form an enclosed courtyard with a cloister, were demolished in 1836.

3. Development of Rumbeck Monastery

The provosts were primarily responsible for the management of the monastery. They were not monks like in other orders, but ordained priests who could carry out their secular duties and run the monastery without restrictions. The monastery as a center of education, training and art was a coveted place. In order to obtain such a place, the choir ladies had to bring a dowry - less money than land, which the provosts managed, exchanged and brought together into consolidated areas as far as the Soester Börde.

One example of this is the Udenhof in Neheim. They developed a system of more than 59 so-called profit farms and areas, which were run by tenants and were subject to taxes in the form of grain, compulsory labor, etc. The provosts treated the tenants very carefully, as they were always focused on the economic success of the monastery.

In addition to extensive agriculture and forestry, other economic sectors were consistently established and expanded. One particularly vital activity was pond farming, as members of the monastery were only allowed to eat meat to a limited extent and only at certain times. Fish therefore became a sought-after commodity, which was also traded extensively. This is how seven monastery ponds were created in the Mühlbach valley within walking distance of the monastery (the uppermost monastery pond has been re-established as a wetland biotope by the Rumbeck Village and Monastery Association). The water from the Mühlbach was also used to power a mill that stood in the quarry stone barn on the farm. There was a bakery in the building next door. The targeted use of the raw materials grain and water was subsequently supplemented by the use of the extensive wood reserves. The forest was used to obtain building and utility wood, for hunting and, above all, to feed the pigs that were fattened on acorns.

The wood was processed directly in the forest, for example in a charcoal kiln or as fuel in a glassworks in the Rumbeck Forest. The diverse economic activities of the Rumbeck Monastery can now be experienced on a circular hiking trail that was created and designed by the Arnsberg Forest Nature Park with the support of the Rumbeck Village and Monastery Association. The individual activities can be followed with explanations at 14 stations. The final stage of the economic development of the Rumbeck Monastery was reached in 1750 with the Rumbeck Hammer, where iron processing began using the water power of the Ruhr.

The increasing profits also led to structural extensions and renovations of the monastery, especially in the Baroque period. People were obviously willing to show off the status they had achieved. The entire interior of the church, including its main altar and two side altars, was magnificently renovated in the Baroque style with turned columns. The new main altar with the image of St. Nicholas was consecrated in 1698. Shortly afterwards, in 1724, under Provost Snackhof, the provost's building was built on older foundations, after the guest house had been completed shortly before in 1697. It had therefore taken 500 years to bring about this period of prosperity.

4. Significance of Rumbeck Monastery

The buildings of Rumbeck Monastery are still largely intact today, with the exception of the granary and the hospital. The granary has been lost as a building, but is still present as a symbol of the economically successful activity and should therefore be highlighted as an example of the central basis of life of the monastery. The farm, which ensured food for the monastery's members, is still operated as a farm today - it has been for over 1,000 years.

The Church of St. Nicholas is used as the parish church of the community of Rumbeck together with the parish hall, which was rebuilt after the fire of 1914. The church is one of the oldest hall churches in Westphalia with strong Romanesque pillars and two narrow side aisles.

The monastic structure required a large organ platform for the members of the monastery, who were separated

of the smaller, lower-seated bourgeois society who celebrated the service.

The decline in church attendance today does not affect the development and achievements of Rumbeck Monastery over almost 900 years. Without the Arnsberg monastery landscape, the development of this landscape would certainly have been different, less creative and educational, because the capital generated by the monastery was fully invested in monastery buildings and the design of the landscape. Reason enough to orient ourselves on what the monasteries in Arnsberg have achieved and to present and appreciate their way of life as successful.