The former Cistercian monastery Chorin is picturesquely situated behind a former vineyard on a lake. The red brick walls tower high and can rival the old trees in the park. The Gothic building was erected in 1272, when the house monastery of the margraves of Ascan, founded in 1258 on the shores of Lake Parstein, was moved to Chorin. With the relocation, a change in architectural style took place. While the Mariensee monastery at Lake Parstein was still planned as a Romanesque building, like the mother monastery in Lehnin, the monastery buildings in Chorin were built in Gothic style. The filigree ornamentation and the effective gable architecture make Chorin a key work of the North German brick Gothic. Many other church buildings in the near and distant surroundings were built on the model of the Chorin Cistercian church. The Franciscan churches in Berlin and Angermünde as well as the Marienkirche in Neubrandenburg are to be mentioned here.

In the course of the Reformation, the abbey was dissolved in 1542 and a changeful period of after-use followed, the traces of which are clearly visible. 200 years ago, Karl Friedrich Schinkel campaigned for the preservation of the monastery buildings in Chorin. Thus it is thanks to him and other early preservationists that so much medieval building fabric has been preserved. The permanent exhibition with 800 m² and numerous special exhibitions put Chorin Monastery in the center and let you experience its history.