Herford Abbey
Imperial Abbey of Herford Reichsfrauenstift Herford | |||||||||
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| 1147–1802 | |||||||||
Coat of arms
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Former Herford Abbey church, now Herford Minster | |||||||||
| Status | Imperial Abbey | ||||||||
| Common languages | West Low German | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
832 | |||||||||
• Herford gained city rights | 973 1147 | ||||||||
1147 | |||||||||
• City joined Hanseatic Lg. | 1342 | ||||||||
• City's immediacy confirmed | 1631 | ||||||||
1652 | |||||||||
| 1802 | |||||||||
• Annexed by Cty Ravensberg | 25 February 1803 | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Germany | ||||||||
Herford Abbey (German: Frauenstift Herford) was the oldest women's religious house in the Duchy of Saxony. It was founded as a house of secular canonesses in 789, initially in Müdehorst (near the modern Bielefeld) by a nobleman called Waltger, who moved it in about 800 onto the lands of his estate Herivurth (later Oldenhervorde) which stood at the crossing of a number of important roads and fords over the Aa and the Werre. The present city of Herford grew up on this site around the abbey.