Sachsenhof Open-Air Museum

Due to the climate, the heart of Münsterland was barely populated for many centuries. But then, in the 6th to 7th centuries, the first peasant warriors from Old Saxon tribal organisations arrived in what is now Münsterland. However, there are no real traces of settlement until around the 8th century. And it was probably around this time that the Sachsenhof was built. But it wasn't always located where it is now...

But let's start from the beginning: in 1973, the Westphalian Museum of Archaeology in Münster began excavations in the Münster-Gittrup sand quarry. In order to make the significance of these investigations clear to visitors while the excavations were still ongoing, work began in 1983 on the reconstruction of an early medieval Saxon farmstead near the excavation site.

Archaeologists found discolourations in the ground and were able to reconstruct roughly the main building of the Saxon court. After having to give way in Gittrup, the main building found its new location in Greven-Pentrup: Here it forms the basis for the Sachsenhof. Incidentally, the current location was not chosen by chance, as there have also been repeated finds in the north of Greven that point to Saxon estates from the 7th-8th century onwards.