The Katharinenstift The history of the Katharinenstift “Most powerful, all high, all good Lord, all praise is yours, all glory, all honour and all blessing.” Francis of Assisi Fragments of the text of St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Sun” are inscribed on the glass front between the garth and the library in the St. Katharinenstift. The Franciscans began building this monastery in 1223. The monks disappeared during the Reformation, and the Katharinenstift was turned into a poorhouse. The church was almost completely destroyed in the great city fire of 1677; only the choir and a few ruins