St Katharinen in Stralsund

The Katharinenkloster in Stralsund stands in the old town centre, a group of red-brick Gothic buildings from the 13th century. It was founded by the Dominicans at the request of Prince Jaromar II and first mentioned in 1251. The complex includes the Katharinenkirche, a 70-metre-long hall church completed in 1317. The chapter house survives with 15th-century vault paintings added during later building phases. After the Reformation the city took over the site and turned it to secular uses, including a school, an arsenal and a museum. The monastery’s significance lies in its almost complete Gothic fabric, rare in northern Germany. It hosted several Dominican general chapters from the 14th to early 16th centuries. Notable former pupils include Ernst Moritz Arndt and Rudolf Baier, later director of the museum. The buildings now house Stralsund’s two main museums: the Kulturhistorische Museum in the former cloister and the Deutsches Meeresmuseum in the church. Visitors walk through the vaulted chapter house with its medieval paintings. The Kulturhistorische Museum displays local history in the monks’ former living quarters. The great hall church, once a Swedish arsenal, now shows marine exhibits under soaring brick vaults. Outside, the Pförtnerhaus at Katharinenberg 14 marks the entrance to this UNESCO-listed ensemble.