St Katharinen in Stralsund, Dominican monastery in Stralsund, Germany
St Katharinen in Stralsund is a former Dominican monastery built in Brick Gothic style, featuring a three-nave hall church. The building now houses the Museum of Cultural History and the German Oceanographic Museum, which includes an aquarium.
The monastery was founded in 1251 by Prince Jaromar II of Rugen and served as a Dominican religious center until the Reformation in the 16th century. After that it lost its monastic purpose and was gradually turned over to secular uses.
The chapter house displays medieval vault paintings from the 15th century beneath a cross-ribbed ceiling supported by slender pillars. This room gives a sense of the spiritual space where monks once gathered.
The building houses several institutions, and different sections may have varying opening hours and separate entrances. It is worth checking in advance which collections are open on the day you plan to visit.
The western part of the building served as a grammar school until 1945, while the eastern wing housed an orphanage until 1919. A single structure was used for two very different social purposes at the same time for many years.
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