Althof chapel

neo-Gothic west gable

medieval Gothic

The Althof chapel was built in the brick Gothic style, but the West Geiebl is neo-Gothic . It is the cradle of Doberan Monastery and stands on a hill on the eastern edge of the Bad Doberan district of Althof in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The chapel belongs to the parish of Bad Doberan in the Rostock provost in the Mecklenburg parish of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany ( Northern Church ).

history

After the subjugation of the Slav princes Pribislaw under Henry the Lion that was baptized in 1164 and are committed to the construction of monasteries. The Schwerin bishop Berno arranged for the first monastery to be founded in Mecklenburg by a convent of Cistercian monks from the Amelungsborn monastery in the Weser Uplands. The foundation of the monastery took place in Althof or Alt Doberan, a village near the later Doberan. On March 1st, 1171 the monastery was occupied by twelve monks and the abbot Conrad. The monks were assisted in the founding of 25 lay brothers . Thanks to generous donations, the monastery soon owned considerable property.

The chapel was already used as the burial place of the Mecklenburg Princely House. In 1172 Woizlawa , Pribislav's wife, was buried there. After Pribislaw died on December 30, 1178 after an unfortunate fall during a tournament in Lüneburg , new wars and unrest broke out in the newly Christianized country. During this period, on November 10, 1179, the monastery in Althof was devastated.

Appearance of the chapel until 1822

The core of the chapel that is still preserved today was probably built in the 14th century over the Woizlawa grave, the previous building was probably destroyed around 1300 after Schlie . In addition to the chapel, there are remains of the old monastery barn in Althof. The monastery was resettled in Doberan in 1186.

In 1522, the ruined chapel at the "wild place in the field" was visited by Duke Heinrich V of Mecklenburg , who found traces of an inscription referring to Prince Pribislaw. In 1602 there was a report of a bakery located here. This use continued until 1820. On August 9, 1822, lightning struck the building. In the same year, Grand Duke Friedrich Franz I initiated the reconstruction. Between 1886 and 1888 Gotthilf Ludwig Möckel gave the chapel its current appearance. Since then, services have been held here again.

Due to the acute risk of collapse, the chapel was closed in spring 2009 and then renovated. On October 30, 2010, the chapel was reopened after two years of security and renovation work.