Burgkloster im Europäischen Hansemuseum Lübeck

In the very north of the Lübeck old town, the European Hansemuseum includes one of the most important convent sites in northern Germany: the St. Mary Magdalene Friary – better known as the Castle Friary. Its outstanding brick Gothic architecture is one of the main reasons why Lübeck's old town has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987. Founded in 1127, it was used and administered by the Dominican order until the Reformation. In 1531, it was turned into an almshouse and hospital. After building alterations at the end of the 19th century, it functioned as a court building and remand prison. During the “Third Reich”, the Castle Friary was a venue of the National Socialist injustice due to the imprisonment of Jews and resistance fighters. Between 1976 and 1990 the Castle Friary complex is converted for use as a museum. From 2005 to 2011 both the Cultural Forum and the Archaeological Museum were housed in the Castle Friary. Since 2015 the extensively restored monument has been part of the European Hansemuseum. Not only rooms of the convent, such as the Long Hall or the Chapter House, can be visited, but also the former prison cells or the hospital.