Park at Gravenhorst Monastery

Historic monastery complex from the 13th century

Gravenhorst Abbey can look back on 555 years of religious life. That's how long the Cistercian nuns lived here, cultivating a kitchen garden for the growing of food, among other things. Almost all of the farm buildings around the monastery have been preserved. The mill building, the bakery and brewery and the foundations of the old smithy tell of times gone by, when the stream supplied the monastery with fresh water, fresh bread was baked here and the mill pond was still full of fish. But the many changes of ownership since the end of the monastery in 1811 and the various uses that came with them have also left their mark.

A stage for contemporary art

After extensive restoration work, the old monastery complex has been used as an art centre since 2004, with a focus on contemporary art. DA stands for Denkmal-Atelier: a lively cultural centre with many exhibitions, workshops and summer studios for children, young people and adults that encourages them to think and create. The various exhibition formats naturally also relate to the garden, where nature, garden and landscape are the reference points for the site-specific installations.

There is, for example, the 'Weidenreuse' (2004), a walk-in artwork by the Swiss artist Marcel Kalberer, which is a reference to the hydraulic engineering of the Cistercian nuns. The room under the 'Heavenly Table' (2014), a joint work by Alexander Edisherov and Katerina Kuznetcowa, can also be entered. To send your own thoughts, wishes or dreams into the sky. Or simply to enjoy the view of the clouds. These and many other works of art, some of which are only temporary, transform the monastery green into a large open-air exhibition that brings together works from several decades.