 The first monks took up residence in 1183, coming from the Sittichenbach Abbey; construction of the church and cloisters began around 1190.The monastery quickly developed into a wealthy abbey and strengthened the position of the Ascanians both by its great economic means and by the missionary work of its monks to the Slavs.By the time the monastery was secularized in 1542, it owned among other things 39 villages and the city of Werder.