Höxter | Guided historical town tour

In 823, Emperor Louis the Pious donated the "Villa Huxori" to the newly founded Corvey Monastery. Under the influence of the imperial abbots of Corvey, the settlement developed into an important long-distance trading centre on the Westphalian Hellweg in the Middle Ages.

In the course of the 12th and 13th centuries, the citizens succeeded in building a bridge and town wall and establishing a council as a self-governing body, thus gradually freeing themselves from Corvey's rule.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Höxter council was able to conclude agreements on an equal footing with Corvey and even interfere in the election of the abbot. The introduction of the Reformation under the patron Landgrave Philip of Hesse was followed by an era of spiritual reorientation. It was during this time that the numerous, magnificent half-timbered buildings of the Weser Renaissance were built, which still characterise the townscape today. The architectural style is characterised by decorative elements such as the eye-catching fan rosettes, fittings and plant ornaments as well as extensions in the form of stander cores and stair towers.