:''for St. Marienstern Abbey in Upper Lusatia, see St. Marienstern Abbey'' Marienstern Abbey (''Kloster Marienstern'', formerly also known as ''Kloster Güldenstern'') was a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

nunnery in Mühlberg in

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Since 2000 a small community of the

Claretian , image = Herb CMF.jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = Coat of arms of the Claretians , abbreviation = CMF , nickname = Claretians , formation = , founders = Anto ...

missionary brothers have lived in the former abbey premises.

History

The abbey was founded in 1228 by the brothers Otto and Bodo of Ileburg (Eilenburg).

Henry III, Margrave of Meissen Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious (''Heinrich der Erlauchte'') (c. 1215 – 15 February 1288) from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia (as Henry IV) from 1221 until his death; from 1242 also Landgrave ...

, made gifts to the new foundation and also granted his consent to convert the former parish church of Mühlberg into the monastic church. The nunnery was secularised in 1539 during the course of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

Buildings

The single-aisled church is a

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (german: Backsteingotik, pl, Gotyk ceglany, nl, Baksteengotiek) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resourc ...

structure with Romanesque elements. In 1565, after several fires, it was reinstated as the parish church of Mühlberg old town. The

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the La ...

dating from the 13th / 14th centuries was altered for agricultural purposes in 1820. From 1992, restoration of the abbey church and of the refectory has been undertaken.

Sources/ external links

Kloster Marienstern: Claretians

Building history of Kloster Marienstern

Cistercian nunneries in Germany Monasteries in Brandenburg 1228 establishments in Europe Brick Gothic Claretian churches Buildings and structures in Elbe-Elster Mühlberg, Brandenburg Elbe-Elster Land {{Brandenburg-struct-stub