Nature and culture in harmony - that is the extraordinary charm of Bentlage Monastery. Here you can expect high-quality exhibitions in the museum, a relaxed atmosphere in the monastery garden and wonderful cycle paths along the banks of the Ems. For a break, the Klostercafé Bentlage is a great place to enjoy tea and coffee specialities, homemade pastries and other snacks and drinks. There are many good reasons to visit the monastery in Rheine.
In 1437, members of the Order of the Knights of the Cross founded the late Gothic Bentlage Monastery. It was extended again and again. In 1803 it was secularised and became the residence of the Rheine-Wolbeck principality. Only three years later it was handed over to the noble family Looz-Corswarem. They converted the former monastery into a castle. This is why it is sometimes referred to as the "Bentlage Monastery/Castle".
Since 1978 the property has been owned by the city of Rheine, which developed it into a cultural meeting place and monastery museum from 1989 to 2000. The highlight of the exhibition there are two reliquaries, which are unique in their state of preservation in the German-speaking world. Sophisticated temporary exhibitions regularly attract numerous visitors.
Together with the Rheine Nature Zoo and the Gottesgabe Salt Works, Bentlage Monastery is one of the most popular excursion destinations in Münsterland. Other excursion destinations into the past include the half-timbered farm Hof Pöpping in Rheine-Elte with its historic collection of ancient walls worthy of preservation or the Pharmacy Museum on the historic market square.
Leave your car at the car park in front of the Salinengarten and walk through the magnificent grounds. Allow some time for a walk along the signposted paths. Cyclists have direct access to the grounds via the Ems Cycle Path and the 100 Castles Route .
For the eleventh time in a row, illustrious guests from the Middle Ages pitch their tents in the Salinenpark in Rheine in July. In authentic tents and dwellings, craftsmen and artists, knights, servants and noblemen work, celebrate, eat and sleep. Home-made goods are offered for sale with market cries and artists amaze the audience with singing and acrobatics. Many speciality stalls cater for the physical well-being.
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