Bad Doberan Minster, Gothic monastery church in Bad Doberan, Germany.
Bad Doberan Minster is a red brick High Gothic church in Bad Doberan, Germany, the surviving church of a Cistercian abbey. A tall green copper spire with a cross rises over the crossing, and a lower polygonal chevet with its own green roof projects to the right. Tall pointed-arch windows sit between brick buttresses, and a clock face marks the main facade.
Cistercian monks from Amelungsborn founded the first monastery in Mecklenburg at Althof in 1171; after its destruction in 1179 it was resettled at Doberan in 1186. Construction of the present Gothic minster began around 1280, the shell and roof were finished by 1296, and the church was consecrated on 3 June 1368 by Bishop Friedrich II of Schwerin. After the abbey was dissolved in 1552, Duke Ulrich and Duchess Elisabeth kept the building from being quarried and it became the Lutheran parish church, retaining its role as the burial place of the Mecklenburg dukes.
The high altar, made around 1300, is considered the oldest winged altar in art history; its upper and middle panels pair New Testament scenes with Old Testament ones, and the lower row, added around 1350, shows the apostles with Saints Sebastian and Fabian. The monumental cross altar dates from around 1370, and the choir stalls were begun in 1280.
The church is open to visitors and offers regular guided tours as well as concerts that highlight the interior and its furnishings. Access is through the west portal, and the building is generally open during daylight hours, with church services continuing throughout the week.
The minster keeps about 85 percent of its original medieval furnishings, the most complete of any Cistercian abbey church in Europe. The high altar, made around 1300, is considered the oldest winged altar in art history. Look for the sculpted tomb of Queen Margarete Sambiria of Denmark inside.
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