Cismar Abbey () was a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery located at near

Grömitz Grömitz () is a municipality in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the Bay of Lübeck, approximately 35 km northeast of Lübeck, and 23 km east of Eutin. Grömitz is a settlement on the Balt ...

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

, in Germany.

History

The abbey was founded in 1238 by Count

Adolf IV of Holstein Adolf IV (before 1205 – 8 July 1261) was a Count of Schauenburg (1225–1238) and of Counts of Schauenburg and Holstein, Holstein (1227–1238), of the House of Schaumburg. Adolf was the eldest son of Adolf III of Holstein, Adolf III of Scha ...

as alternative accommodation for Benedictine monks from

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

. In the mid-15th century it was one of the six original members of the influential

Bursfelde Congregation The Bursfelde Congregation, also called Bursfelde Union, was a union of predominantly west and central German Benedictine monasteries, of both men and women, working for the reform of Benedictine practice. Named after Bursfelde Abbey, it included ...

, a Benedictine reform movement. After three prosperous centuries, based largely on its possession of a relic of the blood of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

and a healing spring dedicated to

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

, which made it a centre of pilgrimage, it was dissolved in 1561 during the secularisation brought about by the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. The monastic library is preserved in the

Danish Royal Library The Royal Library () in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and the academic library of the University of Copenhagen. It is among the largest libraries in the world and the largest in the Nordic countries. In 2017, it merged with the ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

.Grabowsky, Anna-Therese: ''Das Kloster Cismar'', Karl Wachholtz Verlag Neumünster, 1982 The

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (, , ) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Baltic region, Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resources of standing rock (though Glacial erratic, ...

abbey church is famous for its carved altar, dating from the early 14th century, still in place in the church.Cismar.de: local information website, including Cismar Abbey
/ref> Cismar

The other surviving buildings, after a wide variety of secular uses, now serve as a museum.

References

External links

Förderkreis Kloster Cismar e.V.: information about Cismar Abbey
Benedictine monasteries in Germany Monasteries in Schleswig-Holstein 1230s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1238 establishments in Europe Christian monasteries established in the 1230s Museums in Schleswig-Holstein Religious museums in Germany Lutheran churches in Schleswig-Holstein Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism Brick Gothic Gothic architecture in Germany {{Christian-monastery-stub