Why did Otto I found the Monastery of St. Maurice at Magdeburg?

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Stone sculptures of Otto I and his wife Edith, both crowned and seated, displayed side by side in the cathedral at Magdeburg, Germany. — Otto I Otto I and his wife Edith, sculptures in the cathedral at Magdeburg, Germany.

Otto I founded the Monastery of St. Maurice in Magdeburg in 937 to help consolidate the gains made by his margraves, Gero and Hermann Billung, in their campaigns against the Slavs in the east.1

By establishing this religious institution, Otto sought to strengthen his control over the eastern frontiers of his kingdom. The monastery served as a foundational element in his broader eastern policy, which aimed to extend Christian influence and German authority into the regions beyond the Elbe River. This effort was part of a larger strategy to integrate these territories into the Reich through both missionary work and political administration, eventually leading to the founding of an archbishopric at Magdeburg in 968 to serve as the center of a large missionary province.123