Doberan Minster
Close to the Baltic Sea and the Hanseatic city of Rostock, it is the most important religious heritage of the European Route of Brick Gothic.
Poverty as a rule meant that no monk was allowed to hold any personal possessions and also that abbey churches were to be kept simple, without decorations or ornaments.
In the early Romanesque style Cistercian churches, some of which are partially maintained, it is easy to recognize the simple, smooth forms, sparse decorations and furnishings.
To produce bricks they mixed sand, clay and water and filled wooden forms which then dried and were baked in field ovens.
The cement of limestone for the brick joints was free of gypsum to prevent expansion and erosion thus guaranteeing a long life span.
The middle row on the left wing shows: Eve, Sara, the closed gate, the burning bush and the dedication of Samuel.
On the right wing: Moses striking the rock, the suffering of Job, Abraham offering Isaac, the iron serpent, Samon and the city gates of Gaza.
The lower row on the left wing shows: St. Fabian, apostles Bartholomew, Thomas, Simon, Matthew, Andrew and Peter.
The right wing shows: apostles Paul, Jacob the elder, Evangelist John, Phillip, Judas the Galilean, Matthew and St. Sebastian.
There was room inside for 20 sets of utensils for celebrating mass (chalices, plates, jugs, spoons), probably for the 2 main and 18 side altars of the abbey church.
Above it hangs an ornamental candle holder prominently showing the statue of Mother Mary in the late Roman - early Gothic style from the time of 1280.
On top of the baldachin you can see the script "AVE MARIA" ("Hail Mary") as the infinite prayer of the Cistercian monks to their main patroness.
The reason for the longitudinal positioning of the stalls lies in the fact that the Gregorian hourly prayers were sung alternately by the monks on either side.
In the upper window valuable pieces of medieval glass (1300) were joined together during the 19th century to show images of Mother Mary and John the Evangelist.
In the year of our Lord 1386, the knight Hermann von Oertzen passed away.” Up to the former Lettnerwand and the cross altar was, as in all Cistercians abbeys, the room for the church services of the lay brothers.
The round shape of the separating walls, the console style penance seating and the small Romanesque semi-columns all belong to this period.
of Great Duke Friedrich Franz I. von Mecklenburg (died 1837) took 16 years to finish and was put in front of the high altar in 1843.
Despite early Cistercian rules stressing simplicity, the entire abbey church was completely fitted with coloured windows during the 14th century.
Depicted are bishops, several family members and, on the eastern wall, the crucified Christ with John and Mary as well as Saint Thomas of Canterbury and Knight Olav.
In the eastern wall a partially medieval window, dated to the 16th century, shows Mary with Jesus as a child, God the father and the Evangelist John.
Set into the northern wall is a renaissance script epitaph, in Latin and German, for Magnus III with the Duke's coat of arms.
To the left there are several memorial plates of the nobles buried here and below it are medieval stone slabs displaying heraldic animals (14th century) to mark the ducal graves (restored in 2005/06).
Beneath the organ gallery you can see the painting of Great Duke Friedrich Franz I. von Mecklenburg, the founder of the first German seaside health resort in Heiligendamm, in 1793.
Inside the archway to the organ gallery, valuable wall paintings were preserved showing vines and the suffering Jesus, dated 15th century.
It shows the inscription "In the year of Our Lord 1401, on the day of the martyr Vincentius, the good Heinrich von Lühe, a sincere friend of the abbey, died and is resting under this stone.
The tomb of Lord Samuel von Behr (died 1621) was built by Julius Döteber from Leipzig and the canopy was erected in 1626 by Cheer Evert Pilot.
After Margarete's husband Christopher I. of Denmark was murdered in his homeland, she made a journey to Rome and upon her return lived as a contributor and inhabitant of the Holy Cross abbey in Rostock.
To the right, behind the tomb sculpture, the centre section of the altar of the crucifixion of Christ (1340) depicts seven women representing the seven virtues: obedience, persistence, compassion, love, humility, justice and peace.
After the looting during the 30 year war, Adolf Friedrich had the roof and furnishings renovated in 1637. is an octagonal burial chapel for 13 dukes of Mecklenburg, built or reconstructed in 1420 using Romanesque columns and capitals from around 1240.
It consists of a pedestal of grey-blue Norwegian Labrador, roofed by a ciboria made partially of Italian marble, which is decorated with a valuable glass-mosaic.
