[1][2] In 1212, it was first founded in Neunkhausen, made possible by a donation from Eberhard of Arenberg and his wife Adelheid von Molsberg.

[2] According to legend, the abbot had a dream of a hawthorn bush that flowered in winter, which led him to choose the new site.

[2] From 1476, lay people were permitted to attend services in the abbey church, and in 1485 the pilgrimage day was made the octave of Corpus Christi.

[2][4] In the Thirty Years' War, Sweden claimed the property as Swedish crown land on 3 October 1633, expelling the brothers and vandalizing the premises.

[2] On 19 October 1802, the abbey was dissolved as part of secularisation and was given to Frederick William, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg.

[2] In 1842, Nassau County bought the buildings back in poor condition, but plans for a workhouse were not carried out.

On 18 May 1864 the county sold Marienstatt to the Bishop of Limburg, Peter Joseph Blum [de], who established a home for neglected boys.

[6] In 1909, abbot Konrad II Kolb built a library and in 1910 opened an Oblatenschule, a school for the preparation of young men for the order.

During World War II, it served again as an infirmary, and as a home for children from Dormagen, senior citizens from Frankfurt am Main, and the Jesuit college Sankt Georgen.