Buildings
Of the monastic complex there still remain the abbey church, the brewhouse and the customs house, as well as some fragments of the cloisters and the guesthouse. Of the former pilgrimage site on the nearby Golmberg, however, there remains only a cross.
The plain abbey church is an early Gothic pillared basilica with a cruciform groundplan. In the late Gothic period vaulting was introduced into most parts of the structure. Of especial musical interest is the organ by Wilhelm Baer, dating from 1850/51, which on guided tours it is possible to walk through.
Before the altar, there is an Ave Maria inscription embedded in the floor which consists of individual letter tiles. Each letter appears as a relief print on an unglazed, red-brown terracotta tile measuring 14 x 14 cm. The Latin inscription dates to the 13th or 14th century and was composed in Gothic majuscule. The technique is considered a precursor of movable type printing.
In the building known as the "New Abbey" is the local museum, with medieval frescoes and a model of the original monastery complex as it would have been in 1170, as well as displays relating to the abbey's history up to c. 1550 and the development of the weavers' colony. In the old customs house there are displays of traditional weaving techniques and live demonstrations. In the old brewhouse the sweet herbal liqueur "Klosterbruder" is still produced, in which process the visitor is encouraged to participate.
The buildings and the picturesque landscape are also used in spring and summer as the background for concerts, and in co-operation with Lehnin Abbey the medieval music events of the Musica Mediaevalis concert series. There is also a traditional New Year's concert by candlelight in the church - at natural temperature.
Read more about this topic: Zinna Abbey
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—Margaret Halsey (b. 1910)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)