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Brandenburg an der Havel
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Founded: 1286Category: Religious sites in Germany
Historical period: Habsburg Dynasty (Germany)
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St. Pauli Monastery is a former Dominican monastery located in the Neustadt district of Brandenburg an der Havel. Today, it houses the Brandenburg State Archaeological Museum.
After the Ascanian margraves left their castle on Brandenburg Cathedral Island, they built a new residence in Neustadt Brandenburg. In 1286, Margrave Otto V donated the residence to the Dominicans, who began constructing the monastery that same year. The church choir is the oldest part, while the hall church and surrounding buildings were completed around 100 years later. The church was initially dedicated to Saints Andrew and Mary Magdalene, later rededicated in 1384 to the Three Magi and St. Paul.
With the Reformation, the monastery ceased to function as a Catholic institution. It was converted for Protestant use and repurposed as a hospital and nursing home. In 1945, a fire during the Soviet conquest severely damaged the complex. By 1958, parts of the structure collapsed due to lack of preservation.
Plans to restore the monastery began in the 1960s but only materialized after 2002. Modern utilities were integrated into the original structure using traditional materials. The church vaults were not rebuilt. In 2008, the Archaeological State Museum officially opened.
The chancel window, dating from the 13th century, is one of Germany’s oldest stained-glass windows. Removed during WWII and stored elsewhere, it was returned and restored in 2008. The window contains 36 panels, 22 of which depict biblical typologies linking Old and New Testament stories. Original and restored panels are distinguishable by corrosion levels.
In 1995, about 500 graves were discovered from the Pauli cemetery, in use from 1583 to 1795. Skeletal remains showed signs of poor nutrition and widespread dental disease. Most buried were elderly adults, with a higher number of elderly women than men.
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.