Ziesar Abbey

Around 1226, Franciscan monks first settled in Ziesar, but as early as 1271, they moved their monastery to Brandenburg an der Havel. They also transferred the remains of their founder, Magister Helyas, who died in 1237 and was buried in St. Crucis in Ziesar, to their new monastery.

Around 1330, supported by Bishop Ludwig, the first Cistercian nuns settled in the still-preserved monastery building next to the city church of St. Crucis. This church was also used by the nuns as their monastery church. A passage was built from the monastery building to the church. There, the nuns could directly access their own gallery.

The monastery always remained quite modest. The buildings west of the church housed the refectory, the chapter house, and the dormitory. The monastery district was separated from the city by a wall.

The monastery was first mentioned in a document in 1345 as Monasterium beatae Marie virginis sanctimonialium in Seghesere (German: Nunnery of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ziesar). In 1361, the monastery received the patronage over the church of St. Crucis.

After 1540, in the course of the Reformation, the monastery was dissolved. It continued to exist for a time as a convent for noblewomen. In 1610, it was finally secularized and from then on was an electoral domain.