The Statthalter and later the first Count of Schwerin, Gunzelin von Hagen, provided the necessary security, and Christian groups formed among the townspeople.
The last significant cult centre of the Obotrites and all other remaining pagan Wends south of the Ostsee or Baltic Sea was located in the ancestral territory of the Rani on Rügen.
For this reason in 1168 Berno took part with Pribislav, who as a vassal of Henry the Lion was obligated to do it, on an expedition for the destruction of the pagan cult sites under the leadership of Valdemar I of Denmark.
On 30 November 1173 Berno dedicated the first altar in the chapel at Dargun and confirmed to the new monastery gifts from Pribislav and from Casimir I, Duke of Pomerania.
For his protection and security Berno attended the court at Erfurt in November 1181, and on 2 December 1181 received the Emperor's confirmation of his ecclesiastical property.
It took some time for the situation in Mecklenburg to calm down, although Christianity was already widespread, and in the new prince, Heinrich Borwin I, who had been ruling since 1181, had an energetic spokesman.