St. Gertrude's Convent (Old Cologne)

A charter issued by Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden in August 1257 records the move of the recluse Helwigis and her fellow sisters from a cell at St. Catherine's on Severinstraße to St. Gertrude's at Neumarkt. Pope Clement IV granted the community privileges on 1 August 1265, and it was incorporated into the Dominican Order in 1286/1287. Archbishop Siegfried von Westerburg consecrated the high altar in 1279.

The convent relied on indulgences and endowments, with prominent Cologne families among its benefactors; incoming sisters were also required to bring a dowry for their upkeep. In the late Middle Ages the sisters came chiefly from Cologne's patriciate and wealthy merchant families, and in the early modern period from families of aldermen and officials. Members of the Overstolz family are recorded among the prioresses. The convent's holdings included estates in Cologne and surrounding villages such as Dansweiler, Deckstein, Junkersdorf, Lind, and Widdersdorf, all managed by the prioress.

By the 15th century the convent was seen as in need of reform, which was pushed through in 1466 with backing from the city council and archbishop, despite resistance from some sisters. The community remained untouched by the Reformation. In 1728 Cologne's vicar general complained of the convent's poor finances, yet Prioress Anna Herrestorf (1769–1778, 1785–1798) financed a new church choir from her own means. In the final decades of the 18th century the Archbishop of Cologne asserted jurisdiction and visitation rights over St. Gertrude's. On 14 September 1802 the last eleven sisters left the church and convent; the relics were transferred to St. Aposteln, and in 1808 the buildings were auctioned off and subsequently demolished.

The convent is credited with significance for German mysticism in the late 13th and 14th centuries. A collection of sermons—including works by Albertus Magnus—is thought to be linked to St. Gertrude's.