St. Catherine's Monastery Stralsund

The monastery was founded by Prince Jaromar II of Rügen. Originally, this brick building was a 73 meter long, three-aisled hall church. A special architectural feature is the chapter house with its beautiful ribbed vault, supported by eight slender pillars with vault paintings from the 15th century. It is one of the most beautiful interiors of the Low German Brick Gothic style. The monastery's Remter is one of the most impressive Gothic interiors in northern Germany. Due to its architectural beauty and excellent acoustics, it still offers the best conditions for concerts today. With the Reformation, the Katharinenkloster became the property of the city. In 1560, pupils and teachers from the grammar school founded at that time moved to the western part. The humanist educational institution was located here until 1945. The eastern part of the monastery was a municipal orphanage until 1919. Numerous alterations were made over the centuries, but the architectural charm of the various rooms has remained. After extensive restoration work between 1921 and 1924, it became home to the Provincial Museum for New Western Pomerania and Rügen. With its more than 50 rooms, the Katharinenkloster has housed the Museum of Cultural History since 1924 and the German Oceanographic Museum and Aquarium since 1951. In 1973, a self-supporting structure was built into the hall church, allowing the German Oceanographic Museum to make intensive use of the monastery as an exhibition space.