Gardens

Franciscan monks (Grey Friar) started a "Kohlgarten” (vegetable garden) short after the formation of the monastery in 1262. It was located between the monastic library and the town walls. The area of today’s museums garden was given to the monks by Katharina Rubenow (wife of Heinrich Rubenow, mayor of Greifswald and initiator of the foundation of the University of Greifswald) to create a garden of fruit-bearing trees (Baumgarten) in 1491. The gardens reflect the religious, medical, esthetic and magical background of the Middle Age. Crossing alleys or a well in the center were the formative outline of the gardens. Raised beds accumulated water and heat, eased the work and brought the flowering and fragrant plants closer to the eyes and the noses. Plants which supported each other were located on the same bed, such as carrots and onions. The monastic gardens have always been a place for contemplation too.

Boulders are the left overs of the last Ice Age 115.000 to 15.000 years ago. Smooth edges or even parallel scratches on the boulders stand for the enormous force of the ice crust and the longtime of transport. Some of these travelers through the ice are located at the south end of the monastic garden. They are arranged after their point of origin. But the largest one of the boulders rest in the crypt of the museum. How did it get there?