Religious Heritage

The monastery church is now owned by the Evangelical Deaconess House of Berlin-Teltow-Lehnin. The church is used for joint services by the Evangelical parish of the Luise-Henrietten Foundation and our local parish, the St. Marien Monastery Parish of Lehnin. History In 1180, Margrave Otto I of Brandenburg approached the Cistercian monastery of Sittichenbach near Eisleben with a request to provide him with a convent for the foundation of a new monastery: the Marienkloster zu Lehnin. This new foundation was formally confirmed by the General Chapter of the Cistercian Order in Citeaux in 1192. A convent from the Cistercian monastery of Sittichenbach near Eisleben moves into Lehnin in 1183. Lehnin Monastery is the first foundation of the Cistercian Order in the Margraviate of Brandenburg and soon becomes the house monastery and burial site of the Ascanian margraves. At the end of the 12th century, the monastery has a permanent elongated basilica with a transept and side choirs, which replaces the monastery's previous emergency church. Around 1260, the entire monastery complex in Lehnin is essentially complete. The monastery courtyard lies south of the church, and the farmyard is located northeast. A monastery wall forms the boundary of the monastery grounds. A defensive tower secures the crossing at the western monastery boundary. A monastery gate, a gatehouse, and a gatehouse chapel are being built on the east side of the wall. After the completion of the western parts of the church, the church was ceremoniously consecrated by the Archbishop of Magdeburg and the Bishop of Havelberg on 4 June 1262, after more than 60 years of construction. In 1319, the death of Margrave Waldemar, the last ruler of the Ascanian dynasty, marks the end of Lehnin's time as the house monastery of the Ottonian Ascanians. The abbey loses its most important source of wealth. During the 14th century, Lehnin was affected by long-standing feuds with members of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which lasted until the middle of the 14th century, especially in the fight against the Quitzows and Rochows, who often plundered the monastery and the monastery villages in their raids. Since the beginning of the 15th century, Lehnin Monastery has once again played an important political role in the Mark. A lively construction activity flourished once again on the monastery grounds. After the burial of Frederick the Fat, co-regent of Frederick II (1463), in the monastery church, the monastery regained importance. Lehnin Monastery remained the burial place of the Hohenzollern dynasty until its dissolution. Within the Cistercian Order, the Lehnin Monastery enjoyed a high reputation as a center of ecclesiastical scholarship. In their struggle against the Reformation, the Bishop of Brandenburg and the last Catholic Elector, Joachim I, enlisted the services of the Lehnin abbot. Under the last abbot, Valentin, the monastery experienced a resurgence shortly before its dissolution. This period of glory ended in 1535 with the death of Elector Joachim I. With the accession to the throne of Joachim II, the Lehnin monastery was immediately subjected to a church visitation and placed under guardianship. Elector Joachim II had the coffins of three Hohenzollern princes—Frederick the Iron, John Cicero, and Joachim I—transferred from the monastery church in Lehnin to Berlin Cathedral. This marked the beginning of the monastery's decline. In 1543, the last 15 monks leave Lehnin Monastery and find shelter in the surrounding monastery courtyards. Lehnin Monastery is finally dissolved. The former Lehnin monastery complex was converted into a hunting lodge in the mid-17th century. Since the end of the 18th century, several buildings of the former monastery have remained unused and have fallen into disrepair. In the mid-19th century, public interest in these "monuments of ancient times" spread. The Lehnin church ruins were thoroughly researched and examined from 1859 onward, and plans for their restoration were drawn up. From 1871 to 1877 the monastery church was reconstructed at great expense according to historical models. On June 24, 1877, the rebuilt church was consecrated in the presence of a member of the Hohenzollern family. On July 8th, 1911, the Margraviate of Brandenburg acquired the former monastery estate, including the 26 hectares of land belonging to it, from its last owner, Councillor of Commerce Abel, and established a deaconess motherhouse called “Luise-Henrietten-Stift” in the existing buildings.