Basilica of  St. Margaret, Düsseldorf, Germany

The monastery, founded under the patronage of St. Hippolytus, was first mentioned in 870 on the occasion of the Cologne Synod and was first documented in 905/906. The founder is considered to be the Franconian nobleman Gerrich , who appointed his daughter Regenbierg (870–905) as the first abbess of the women’s convent . The place name Gerresheim is also associated with him in the document of 870. The women’s monastery is the second oldest ecclesiastical institution in the Rhineland after Kaiserswerth.

The convent was destroyed in 919 by an invasion of the Hungarians.  The canonesses were able to flee to St. Ursula in Cologne and thus brought the valuable relics of St. Hippolytus to safety in Cologne.  The reconstruction was not completed until 970 and the consecration was carried out by Archbishop Gero of Cologne , whose predecessor Wichfrid had provided great financial support for the monastery. After the turn of the millennium, the monastery began a period of prosperity again. This favorable development was due to a temporary affiliation with the neighboring monastery of Essen, whose abbess Theophanu (d. 1058), the famous granddaughter of Emperor Otto II, also led the Gerresheim monastery at the same time.

The present pillar basilica of St. Margaret was built between 1220 and 1230 as a collegiate church in the Rhenish transitional style and was probably consecrated in 1236. Like the monastery, the church was dedicated to Saint Hippolytus and was called Monasterium Santi Hippolyti . It is located on the site of a previous building from the 9th century.  In keeping with the importance of the monastery, the basilica was built under Abbess Guda (1212–1232).

In the 13th and 14th centuries, the foundation was very wealthy and powerful due to numerous properties and income from the entire Rhineland. The high reputation among the nobility and the supra-regional influence are evident in the fact that only daughters of the high nobility were allowed to join the convent.  The rich income from the landed property ensured the continued existence of the foundation until the beginning of the 19th century. The foundation was abolished in the course of secularization on September 12, 1803 by Elector Maximilian IV Joseph .

Since 1598, the blood procession has taken place every year to venerate a blood relic that is said to contain the earth from Mount Golgotha mixed with Christ’s blood. The basilica was originally reserved exclusively for the canonesses, and has only been used as a parish church since the 18th century. Until then, the community celebrated its services in a small church of Saint Margaret to the south, where the bones of the blessed Gerrich , the namesake of Gerresheim, were kept. From 1790, parish services were held in the collegiate church, which was finally transferred to the community in 1810; the old parish church had to be demolished in 1892.

Restorations were carried out in 1873 by Heinrich Wiethase and in 1894 by Heinrich Renard . Further restorations and structural safety measures were carried out from 1932 and 1950. Since 1975, safety measures have been carried out due to the unsafe building ground.  During the restorations in the period from 1974 to 1985, the outer walls were plastered and painted in a colour that probably corresponds to the original colour. The church was elevated to a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1982.