The present abbey church originates in a small parish church built on an estate called "Havenburn" by the lords of Hochstaden in the 9th century. Over time, the landowners leased the land surrounding the farm to peasants who settled here. Soon the name of the estate passed to the entire parish. The parish of Hamborn later became an independent jurisdiction. In 1136 Gerhard von Hochstaden gave his possessions in Hamborn to the Archbishop of Cologne on condition that a Premonstratensian monastery should be built in the place of the parish church. After the conversion of the parish church to a Premonstratensian church and the construction of the cloister and the rest of the conventual buildings, the site was consecrated in 1170 and became an abbey. After the Napoleonic occupation of the Rhineland by the French army this monastery was abolished, like almost all others. While the monastic estates fell to the state, the church was kept for the people of Hamborn as a parish church. During World War II the abbey and the church were largely destroyed by Allied air raids. As part of the re-foundation of the diocese of Essen in 1958 Hamborn Abbey was re-established in 1959 and settled by Premonstratensians from Rot an der Rot Abbey. In 1994 it regained its abbatial status. As of 2018 the community contains 23 canons including the abbot since 1995, Albert Thomas Dölken O.Praem. The canons are mostly engaged in pastoral work in the Duisburg area, but in addition some are also active in the diocesan administration, in secondary and higher education and as academics, as well as in various welfare and social projects. Besides its premises in Duisburg, Hamborn Abbey also oversees the Premonstratensian community in Magdeburgconsisting of three monks, as an independent priory. The canons of Hamborn also undertake pastoral care in the former Premonstratensian abbeys of Cappenberg and :de:Abtei Sayn|Sayn. The steady growth of the community made necessary the enlargement of the premises of the buildings, and a new building was dedicated in 2011. On the abbey site are now also the Abbey School, the Abbey Centre, which is used in particular for conferences and cultural events and is equipped with a tourist office, as well as St. John's Hospital. The abbey is on the social front line of northern Duisburg with the notorious districts of Marxloh and Bruckhausen in an area that no longer has a Christian majority, and this sets the parameters of the abbey's social and pastoral work. Besides the abbey church with its sights, the treasury can also be visited.
Abbots and provosts
From 1959
Albert Thomas Dölken, abbot since 1995
Gottfried Reinhold Menne, prelate 1988-1995
Florian Joseph Pröll, abbot of :de:Stift Schlägl|Schlägl Abbey, abbey administrator 1965-1988
The organ in the abbey church was built in 1986 by the firm of Mönch in Überlingen. The instrument has 45 registers with 3181 pipes on three manuals and pedal.
