In 1287, a thief in the Brandenburg marsh country buried a stolen consecrated host beneath a tree. Days later peasants noticed that the soil at the foot of the tree had cracked and opened of itself; the host within was visibly bleeding into the earth. The Margrave of Brandenburg founded the Cistercian convent of Heiligengrabe ('Holy Grave') on the site in 1289. The convent became one of the great pilgrimage centres of medieval north Germany. Though the convent passed to Lutheran use at the Reformation, the chapel of the Holy Blood still stands as a memorial.
1287 · Heiligengrabe Abbey, Brandenburg, Germany
Status: approved holy see