Preetz Priory () is a former

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 ...

nunnery in the town of

Preetz Preetz () is a town southeast of Kiel in the Plön (district), district of Plön, in Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. Preetz is also known as "Schusterstadt" (English: 'shoemaker town') named after shoemakers who used to live and work in this ...

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 ...

, Germany. It operates today as a collegiate residence for ladies (''

Stift The term (; ) is derived from the verb (to donate) and originally meant 'a donation'. Such donations usually comprised earning assets, originally landed estates with serfs defraying dues (originally often in kind) or with vassal tenants of noble ...

'').

History

The nunnery was founded in 1211 by

Graf (; feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title ...

Albrecht of

Orlamünde Orlamünde () is a small town in the Saale-Holzland district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is part of the ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' ("collective municipality") Südliches Saaletal. Geography The town centre stretches along the steep banks of th ...

, nephew of King

Valdemar II of Denmark Valdemar II Valdemarsen (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious () and Valdemar the Conqueror, was King of Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241. In 1207, Valdemar invaded and conquered Bishopric of L� ...

, following a

mystical experience A religious experience (sometimes known as a spiritual experience, sacred experience, mystical experience) is a subjective experience which is interpreted within a religious framework. The concept originated in the 19th century, as a defense ag ...

which, according to him, happened while he was stalking a deer. After he had followed it into a valley, the deer stood still and he suddenly saw a gleaming cross appear between its antlers. He felt that the site was a holy place which he called the Field of Mary () and to commemorate the vision he founded a nunnery at a location some 2 miles (4 km) away. A monastery on the actual site of the vision was built only in 1260. Suppressed in the 16th century due to the

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

, it became an aristocratic Lutheran women's convent belonging to the

knighthood. It continues in this capacity.Christian Stocks, Bernhard Schütz, 1975: ''Preetz. Ev. Adeliges Kloster, Ehem. Benediktinerinnenkloster Campus Beatae Mariae.'' Brochure, Schnell & Steiner, Kunstführer Nr. 1030,

References

External links

Official website of Preetz Priory

Christian monasteries established in the 1210s Buildings and structures in Plön (district) 16th-century disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire {{Christian-monastery-stub