The history of St Mary's Church and the collegiate building begins in 993 with the founding of a Benedictine convent on the Wiehengebirg ridge. When the Benedictine nuns moved their convent from Wittekindsberg to today's Marienkirchplatz around 1000 AD, they already found a farmstead with a small church there.
At this site, they erected a convent building of which the southern part of the cloister has been preserved. The Marienkloster was probably converted into a secular convent in the 14th century.
After secularisation in 1811, the convent's premises were used for military purposes. In 1922, the municipality bought back the convent. Until 1975, it was mainly used as a residential complex for church employees. After large parts of the church and St Mary's Abbey were destroyed in the war in 1945, a fundamental renovation of the buildings and structures began in 1973, retaining the oldest parts of the building (1000 AD). Among other things, a community centre was built and inaugurated in 1975.
Since then, the Marienstift has served as a meeting place for various community groups. Such as the various choirs and singing schools, the youth choir, the choir, the drum group and many others.