Holthausen Manor (Büren)

The Holthausen Estate is located in the municipal area of Büren in the district of Paderborn and is a former Cistercian nunnery. Today, the estate is privately owned.

The monastery was built in the early 1240s as a family monastery by the then noble lords and cousins Bertold the Elder and Bertold the Younger of Büren. In 1243, the convent is mentioned for the first time in a document. While an incorporation into the Cistercian order is not documented, visitations by the abbot of Bredelar Monastery are. The monastery primarily recruited daughters of the Büren ministeriales.

Despite renovations in the 18th century and the construction of a baroque monastery church of St. Peter and Paul with a roof turret typical for Cistercian nuns, the medieval layout can still be recognized today. The inner courtyard with cloister is enclosed by a two-story building complex. The church occupies the north wing. On September 16, 1810, the monastery was dissolved due to secularization and converted into an estate. In 1846, the agricultural outbuilding was constructed.

During the First World War, a prisoner-of-war camp was established at Holthausen Estate, specifically for ethnic Germans from Russia who wished to resettle in Germany. With the help of the "Welfare Association for Repatriates," these prisoners of war were gathered there and prepared for repatriation after the war.

The organ of the former monastery church was built in 1764 by an unknown organ builder and has 7 stops on one manual (C, D - d¹) with the voices Salicional 8', Gedact 8', Principal 4', Quinte 2²/₃', Oktave 2', Mixtur III and Trompete 8'. The latter two stops were added later. In 2005, this instrument was restored, and missing pipe material was supplemented. The side console is preserved in its original state. A special feature is the attached knife-back pedal (C,D - d¹). The facade is mute. The 8' Gedact stop was probably already built in 1764.