Landmark reopened: renovation of "Gut Schaaken" completed
A popular destination for hikers and cyclists: The Schaaken estate between Immighausen and Goddelsheim has been used for various occasions in recent years. Wedding pictures, open-air church services or confirmations could take place in the beautiful ruined setting of the old monastery church until 2017. But the former convent, built in the second half of the 13th century by an order of Benedictine nuns, was becoming increasingly dilapidated. It was no longer safe to enter and the ruins had to be closed to the public. In order to reopen the Lichtenfels landmark to interested visitors, the ruins of Gut Schaaken have been restored in recent years with the help of various sponsors through the Waldeckische Landesstiftung.
The former Schaaken Monastery was built as a late Romanesque-early Gothic two-nave basilica with a square choir, a northern transept, a northern aisle and a western tower as a monastery church. In 1913, a fire reduced the former church to its present state. The monastery's assets used to include a church building, a collegiate building, ancillary facilities, and agricultural and forestry property in Goddelsheim and Immighausen. Today, most of the property is owned by the charitable Waldeckische Landesstiftung. The history of the church ruins and the state foundation are documented in over 100 file packages in the state archives in Marburg. The oldest documents date back to 1513.
Around 203,000 euros have been invested in the ruins of Gut Schaaken over the past two years. The foundation was supported by the Federal Republic of Germany, the State of Hesse, the German Foundation for Monument Protection, the Waldeckische Domanialverwaltung, the City of Lichtenfels, the Waldecker Bank eG and the Sparkassenstiftung. Collectively, the necessary funds were raised to reopen the ruin to the public.