Zisterzienserinnenkloster Altfriedland (preserved in parts)

History
The Cistercian Abbey is assumed to have been founded by the House of Ascania around 1230. It was first mentioned in a document in 1271. The monastery’s original name ‘Vredelant’ (pacified land) demonstrates the power of the Margraves of Brandenburg over the Silesian Piasts in Lebus. The increase of possessions and the development of the monastery was possible thanks to the land and the nuns’ generous dowries, as they were mostly from aristocratic and upper class families. The monastery and its possessions were secularised in 1546, in the context of the Reformation.

Monastery complex
Part of the west wing with the cloister and refectory and the original Gothic monastery church remain of the medieval complex. The monastery complex became a secular feudal estate in the 16th century, and the buildings were converted for agricultural purposes. The Roebel House from the 17th century that was home to the first resident knightly family, and the baroque manor house from the first half of the 18th century now remain of the farming estate.

Location and environment
Altfriedland is located in the Märkische Schweiz nature park on the edge of the Oderbruch. The monastery ruin is beautifully situated on a tongue of land between the lakes Klostersee and Kietzer See.

Highlights
Visitors can access the cloister and the refectory with its impressive stellar vaults. The monastery church is used as a protestant parish church. The concert series ‘Musik im Kloster’ and the traditional festival ‘Kunstherbst im Kloster’ are very popular. Lake Klostersee with its sunbathing lawn is a great place for bathing and relaxing in summer. Neuhardenberg is only 4 kilometres away and home to the classicist castle complex that was converted by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1820 and that is well known even beyond the local region.

Viewings
By arrangement