In northern Germany, on the outskirts of the historic port city of Greifswald, the monumental ruins of a 12th-century monastery stand among a quiet forest. Neglected for centuries, the ruins played a key role in the German Romantic movement, featuring heavily in the work of Caspar David Friedrich.

Danish Cisterian monks founded the original abbey in 1199. After the Battle of Bornhöved in 1227, the Danes were forced to withdraw from Northern Germany, and the abbey became part of Pomerania, a historical duchy ruled by the House of Pomerania (also known as the Griffins).

The abbey served as the burial place for the last members of the House of Pomerania.

As part of the Reformation, the abbey was dissolved in 1535 and soon started to fall into disrepair. During the Thirty Years’ War, between 1618 and 1648, the abbey was badly damaged. Bricks from the abbey were also repurposed and used to build new buildings during the 17th and 18th centuries. 

During the early 19th century, the German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich came across Eldena Abbey, and soon began depicting the ruins in a range of works, including The Abbey in the Oakwood and Ruins in the Giant Mountains.