Bremen 1734, altes Gymnasium am Katharinenkloster

St Catherine's Monastery (german: link=no, St.-Katharinen-Kloster) in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, Germany, was founded in 1253 by the Dominicans. Today traces of its existence remain in the area of the Katharinenstraße and Katharinenklosterhof in the old town.

History

The

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 ...

building was Germany's second Dominican monastery after

St Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( ar, دير القدّيسة كاترين; grc-gre, Μονὴ τῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Katherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, ...

in Frankfurt. Its imposing church was consecrated to Saint Catherine in 1285. The monastery was extended in 1400 but was closed in 1528 as a result 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 ...

. The grammar school known as ''Schola Bremensis'' or ''Gymnasium Illustre'' moved into the premises and, from 1660, was served by the ''Bibliotheca Bremensis'', the extensive library which was established there. In the early 19th century, the church was the city's arsenal as can be seen from

Jacob Ephraim Polzin Jacob Ephraim Polzin (1778 – 18 November 1851) was a German Neoclassical architect active in Bremen, Germany. Life Son of a master carpenter, Polzin was born in Königsberg in 1778. He trained in Copenhagen and quickly found work for three year ...

's painting. For a short period from 1900 to 1905 it even became home to the city's historical museum with Johann Focke's collection. It was later used by local merchants as a storehouse. After suffering serious damage during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the church was demolished in 1960.

Remains

Today traces of the monastery can be found in the

multi-storey car park A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

designed by Carsten Schröck in the early 1970s. In the restaurant at No. 7 Katharinenklosterhof, once known as the "Refectorium", remains of 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 ...

, cloister and the chapter room of the monastery can be seen. This history is recorded on an information plaque in the Katharinenpassage. The Katharinenpassage was built in 1984 to a design by Rosengart, Busse and partners.Information and QRpedia code
Bremen tourist board and Wikipedia, retrieved 31 January 2014

References

External links

Timothy Joseph Senior, ''Reconstructing St. Katharinen – Archival Archaeology in Action''
{{Authority control History of Bremen (city) Religious buildings and structures in Bremen (city) Monasteries in Bremen (state)

Bremen Catherine Bremen Catherine Bremen Catherine Bremen Catherine