Around 1200, Bishop Dietmar von Stromberg (1185-1206) and Canon Ramward founded the collegiate monastery of St John the Evangelist. The Romanesque vaulted basilica was transformed into an elongated hall building by demolishing the side aisles and transept wings at the end of the 18th century. The Prussian army confiscated the church as a grain storehouse. However, church services continued to take place in the apse. In 1824, the secularised church was converted into a military armoury.
After the cathedral was destroyed in 1945, St. John's Church was temporarily used as an emergency church for the cathedral parish. The Johanniskirchhof community centre (BÜZ) has been housed in the building since 1981. A plus in culture for Minden.