Chorin Attractions

In 1258, Cistercian monks established the monastery of Mariensee on a little island in the Parsteiner See, and then in 1273 moved to Chorin. The monastery was dissolved in 1542, and thereafter the building was occupied by the Electoral authorities. During the Thirty Years War it was several times plundered and set on fire, and later in the 17th C. it was used as a quarry of building stone. In the early 19th C K. F. Schinkel took the first steps towards conserving the monastery, and in the 20th C. it was extensively restored from 1954 onwards. Since then the building has been used for various cultural events; particularly popular are the symphony concerts during Chorin's "Musical Summer". Even in a state of partial ruin, the monastery is still the finest example of North German brick-built Gothic in Brandenburg.