Monastery Unser Lieben Frauen Magdeburg, Romanesque monastery and art museum in Magdeburg, Germany
Monastery Unser Lieben Frauen is a monastic complex in Magdeburg's old town, built around a courtyard from rough grey-brown stone. Its left and rear wings have red tiled roofs, and the rear wing rises to a tall triangular gable with a row of small arches. The lower walls have two levels of round-arched windows, and a taller tower section with a steep grey roof stands to the right.
Archbishop Gero founded a collegiate foundation here around 1015–1018; the supposed founding charter is a later forgery. From 1063/64 Archbishop Werner had a three-aisled, flat-roofed basilica built, where he was buried in 1078. In 1129 Norbert von Xanten transferred the foundation to the Premonstratensians, confirmed by Pope Honorius II; Norbert was buried before the cross altar in 1134. After the old Magdeburg Cathedral burned on Good Friday 1207, the monastery church served as the city's cathedral.
The name Unser Lieben Frauen refers to the Virgin Mary, to whom the collegiate foundation was dedicated. Since 1974 the former monastery has housed Magdeburg's art museum, and the church, secularised in 1977, serves as the Georg Philipp Telemann concert hall. A sculpture park was laid out on the grounds in 1989.
Visitors should plan for varying opening hours and allow time to explore the different sections of the complex. The medieval structure includes staircases and narrow passages that require consideration, especially when visiting the upper floors.
The monastery church served as Magdeburg's temporary cathedral after the old cathedral burned on Good Friday 1207; Archbishop Albrecht I of Käfernburg celebrated Mass there by Easter. In 1211 he proclaimed in this church the papal ban against Otto IV. The Romanesque character was kept when the nave received rib vaults between 1220 and 1240.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,293 contributors worldwide.