page_title: Otto III, Margrave of Brandenburg
section_title: Chorin Abbey - Grave laying and power politics
hierarchical_section_title: Otto III, Margrave of Brandenburg / Inheritance and descendants / Johannine and Ottonian line / Chorin Abbey - Grave laying and power politics
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Zisterzienser Kloster Chorin, im 13. Jahrhundert gestiftet von den gemeinsam regierenden Brandenburger Markgrafen Johann I. (1213–1266) und Otto III. (ca. 1215–1267). Chorin ist eine Gemeinde im Brandenburger Landkreis Barnim. English: Cistercian Monastery Chorin, founded in 13th century by the together governing Ascanian Margraves of Brandenburg John I (1213–1266) and Otto III (ca. 1215–1267). Chorin is a municipality in the District Barnim, state Brandenburg, Germany.
context_page_description: Otto III, nicknamed the pious was Margrave of Brandenburg jointly with his elder brother John I until John died in 1266. Otto III then ruled alone, until his death, the following year.
  The reign of these two Ascanian margraves was characterized by an expansion of the margraviate, which annexed the remaining parts of Teltow and Barnim, the Uckermark, the Lordship of Stargard, the Lubusz Land and parts of the Neumark east of the Oder. They consolidated the position of Brandenburg within the Holy Roman Empire, which was reflected in the fact that in 1256, Otto III was a candidate to be elected King of the Germans. They founded several cities and developed the twin cities of Cölln and Berlin. They expanded the Ascanian castle in nearby Spandau and made it their preferred residence.
  Before their death, they divided the margraviate in a Johannine and an Ottonian part. The Ascanians were traditionally buried in the Lehnin Abbey in the Ottonian part of the country. In 1258, they founded a Cistercian monastery named Mariensee, where members of the Johannine line could be buried. In 1266, they changed their mind and founded a second monastery, named Chorin, 8 km southwest of Mariensee.
context_section_description: The politics of marriage and 1258 consummated division of the state government led to the joint foundation of the monastery of Mariensee on a former island in the Parsteiner See lake on the northeastern edge of today's Barnim. Until then, deceased Margraves of Brandenburg had been buried at Lehnin Abbey, in the Ottonian part of the Margraviate. The monastery of Mariensee was meant to provide the Johannine line with a burial place of their own. Construction of the monastery began in 1258 with monks from Lehnin. Even before Mariensee was completed in 1273, a decision was made to move to a new location approximately five miles to the southwest with the new name Chorin Abbey. When John I died in 1266, he was initially buried at Mariensee. In 1273, his body was moved to Chorin Abbey.  It appears that in 1266, John I arranged for the monastery to move and that he donated rich gifts to the new Chorin Abbey, including the village of Parstein. His sons later confirmed these donations for the benefit of their father's soul and their own.
  As with all monasteries founded by the Ascanians, political and economic considerations played an important rôle, alongside the pastoral aspects. A Slavic circular rampart existed on the island, to the west of the monastery. John I and Otto III probably used this rampart as a castle against their Pomeranian competitors. The monastery was meant to provide central and administrative functions.  "Both the foundation itself and the location in a regional centre 'across' the trade route [...] in a populated area are to be interpreted as the result of political calculations".
caption: Chorin Abbey church
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