Phone +49 4342 86829 | ||
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Address Klosterhof 5, 24211 Preetz, Germany Similar Widow's Palace - Plön, Princes' House, Lanker See, Schwentine, Postsee | ||
Preetz Priory (German: Kloster Preetz) is a former German Benedictine nunnery in the town of Preetz, Schleswig-Holstein. It operates today as a residence for ladies.
History
The monastery was founded in 1211 by Graf Albrecht of Orlamünde, nephew of King Valdemar II of Denmark. He founded it following a mystical experience which he later recounted happened while he was stalking a deer. After following it into a glen, the deer stood still and he suddenly saw a gleaming cross appear between its antlers. He felt that the site was a holy place which he called the Field of Mary (German: Marienfelde) and, to honor the vision, founded a monastery of nuns at a location some 2 miles (4 km) away. A monastery on the actual site of the vision was built only in 1260.
Suppressed in the 16th century due to the Protestant Reformation, it became an aristocratic Lutheran women's convent belonging to the Schleswig-Holstein knighthood. It continues in this capacity.