The Building History of Doberan Minster

Anyone who has seen the interior of Doberan Minster is convinced that it is a cultural monument of international significance. One of the earliest large Gothic brick basilicas in the Baltic region is also one of the most ambitious Cistercian monastic churches of its time. A new book provides a detailed account.
Both the furnishings and the building itself have been preserved in all their essential parts. Research conducted over the past decade has clarified important questions about the church’s architectural development, its place in the history of architecture and construction, and the fate of the church and convent buildings over the centuries. The essays in this volume span the period from the high-medieval predecessor building to the conservation work of the recent past, vividly presenting the construction, transformation and preservation of one of northern Germany’s most significant sacred buildings.
The newly published volume brings together numerous new findings from the fields of building research, art history, dendrochronology, archaeology, architecture, structural engineering and the study of historical manuscripts. The book is also enriched by around 360 illustrations, including historical floor plans, historic plans of the monastery grounds and the so-called Doberan suburb, as well as historical and contemporary photographs.
Among the new findings are the art-historical significance and chronology of the High Gothic Doberan Minster in relation to the early cathedral buildings of northern Germany. Archaeological investigations have yielded new insights into the Romanesque predecessor church. It was longer and wider than previously thought.
For the first time, the Minster’s restoration history in the early modern period has been systematically examined, along with the transformation of the buildings on the monastery grounds since the monastery was dissolved in 1552.

Thanks to generous financial support for printing this volume from the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Ostseesparkasse Rostock Foundation, as well as the advance purchase of a large number of copies for the festivities, the affordable retail price of €29.95 is possible. This price helps fulfil our educational mission together. Proceeds from sales will go to the building fund of Doberan Minster.


Martin Heider, Christian Kayser (eds.):
Doberan Minster. Building – History – Context
Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2020, 344 pp., price: €29.95