In 1437, members of the Order of the Knights of the Cross founded the late Gothic Bentlage Monastery. It was extended again and again. In 1803 it was secularised and became the residence of the Rheine-Wolbeck principality. Only three years later it was handed over to the noble family Looz-Corswarem. They converted the former monastery into a castle.
Since 1978 the property has been owned by the city of Rheine, which developed it into a cultural meeting place and monastery museum from 1989 to 2000. The highlight of the exhibition there are two reliquaries, which are unique in their state of preservation in the German-speaking world. Sophisticated temporary exhibitions regularly attract numerous visitors.
References:The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.