Nienburg - St. Marien und St. Cyprian

Nienburg is about 5 km northeast of Bernburg. Nienburg was mentioned in a document from the Gernrode monastery in 961. Around 970, the Jewish traveler Ibrahim ibn Jaqub, who came from Moorish Spain, mentions the place.

For several centuries, Nienburg was on the eastern outer border of the Carolingian and German empires. A castle belonging to the Carolingians was probably built here in the 9th century. Between 930 and 950 the "New Castle" (= Nienburg) was built.

The Benedictine abbey, founded in Thankmarsfelde in 970, was relocated to the fort in 975 with the aim of evangelizing the then Sorbian population of the region. In 1004 the first monastery church was consecrated in the presence of King Heinrich II, who was on a military campaign against the Poles.

The church burned down in 1042. The 1042-1060 built successor was by Emperor Heinrich III. promoted. This building had a gallery transept in the west and a crypt under the chancel, of which a window can still be seen today. After a fire in 1242, the church was renovated. Moreover, the walls of the 11th century building continued to be used and increased. However, after another fire in 1280, the nave was designed as a three-nave, three-bay hall church.

As a result of the Reformation and the Peasants' War, the monastery was handed over to the princes of Anhalt-Köthen in 1563, who converted the cloister building from 1680 to 1690 to use it as a palace and widow's residence. In 1871, the palace was sold to an industrialist who converted the building into a malt factory.