Gerleve Monastery

Gerleve Abbey was founded by Beuron Archabbey in 1899. The abbey church and the west wing were built in 1901 and 1904 according to the plans of Ludger Wilhelm Rincklake, the architect of Ludgerus Cathedral in Billerbeck. The foundation stone was laid in 1901 in the north-west crossing pillar. On 10 June 1904, Maximilian Gereon Graf von Galen, Auxiliary Bishop of Münster, performed the preliminary consecration. The south wing was occupied in 1911 and the east wing finally in 1960.

In 1938, the architect Dominikus Böhm gave the front of the church its striking, imposing shape. The façade made of weatherproof Ibbenbüren sandstone preserves Rincklake's style and makes the monastery a striking landmark in the Münsterland region.