Somewhat elevated on a hill in the northern old town of the Hanseatic city is Lübeck’s Castle Monastery, officially called Maria Magdalenen Monastery. One of the most important monastery complexes in northern Germany, it was the seat of the Dominican Order from 1129 to 1531. Now part of the European Hanseatic Museum, the monastery still shows evidence of this past in its Gothic rooms, with wall and ceiling paintings, capitals and keystones. From the Reformation until the 19th century, the Lübeck Castle Monastery was then used as a poorhouse and hospital. At the end of the 19th century, a reconstruction took place. The upper floor was converted into a court with a Court of lay assessors and prison cells. These are still partially preserved today.
