Kloster Maulbronn

In addition to the highly recommended Christmas market, other markets, festivals and events take place in the monastery throughout the year. So you always have a reason to stop by here: maulbronn.de/de/startseite.

The area around the monastery with vineyards, forest and small lakes also wants to be explored. Great starting point or stopover on hikes.

The foyer with the water house is particularly worth a visit. Great facility.

Maulbronn Monastery is considered the most completely preserved medieval monastery of the Cistercians north of the Alps. Maulbronn Monastery owes its status as a World Heritage Site to UNESCO.

The Maulbronn Monastery is a former Cistercian abbey in the center of Maulbronn. Town and monastery are located on the southwestern edge of the Stromberg, which rises in the south of the Odenwald and north of the Black Forest Kraichgau. The next big city is the Baden-Württemberg Pforzheim. Maulbronn is considered the best preserved medieval monastery north of the Alps. All styles and stages of development from Romanesque to late Gothic are represented here.

The complex, which is enclosed by a wall, today houses, among other things, several restaurants, the police, the town hall of Maulbronn and other administrative offices. In the monastery buildings is also a Protestant high school with boarding.

The Maulbronn Monastery is UNESCO World Heritage Site since December 1993.

Sources: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Maulbronn & kloster-maulbronn.de/start

A fascinating facility!
"Maulbronn is considered to be the most completely preserved medieval monastery complex north of the Alps. The Cistercians began construction in the middle of the 12th century - over the centuries a huge monastery town developed. The monastery has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993."
You can find a lot more information here: kloster-maulbronn.de/start

A detour to the "Schafhof" on the hill opposite the monastery next to the "Tiefen See" is also recommended.

The Maulbronn Monastery is a former Cistercian abbey in the center of Maulbronn in the Enzkreis district in Baden-Württemberg. The small town of Maulbronn with its monastery is located on the southwestern edge of the Stromberg, which rises in the Kraichgau, south of the Odenwald and north of the Black Forest. The nearest big city is Pforzheim in Baden-Württemberg. Maulbronn is considered to be the best-preserved medieval monastery complex north of the Alps. All styles and stages of development are represented here, from Romanesque to late Gothic.

A mule finds the place to found the monastery

A coat of arms on the source niche shows the founding legend,

in which it says

that the monks were undecided where to build the monastery. They therefore loaded a mule with the monastery treasures and let it go. The mule stopped at the site of today's well (= Bronn), threw down the monastery treasure and pawed with its hoof. A water fountain immediately shot up there, which the monks caught in the well and later in the well house. This is how the monastery got its location and the name Maulbronn.

The Maulbronn Monastery, founded in 1147, is an impressive document of Cistercian culture and the best-preserved monastery complex north of the Alps.
Maulbronn Monastery is of exceptional architectural merit, which played a key role in the assimilation of Gothic forms into German architecture. In the Middle Ages it was an important political, economic and social center. After the introduction of the Reformation, the monastery was converted into a Protestant monastery school (1556). The Protestant theological seminary, founded in 1807, still exists today. Since 1993, the Maulbronn Monastery has been included in the list of World Heritage Sites as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Management and administration were writ large - the monastery courtyard.

The book about the monastery: in the story "Unterm Rad" Hermann Hesse describes the failed school education of the talented student Hans Giebenrath in Maulbronn and his tragic end. One of his poems deals very generally with what was happening behind monastery walls and the school system around 1900.
Nowadays, this monastery rightly fascinates us in terms of architecture, romance and the beauty of the original complex. It is easy to overlook the fact that not only pleasant things happened here.

It was built in 1138 by Abbot Dieter and 12 monks from the Cistercian monastery Neuburg in Alsace.

founding
Under the aegis of Abbot Bernhard von Clairvaux, the Cistercian order also became very popular in today's Germany. In south-west Germany, the Edelfreie Walter von Lomersheim was infected by the enthusiasm. He donated his Eckenweiher heritage between Mühlacker and Lienzingen to found a Cistercian monastery, which he intended to join as a lay brother. For this purpose, the Neuburg monastery in Alsace sent an abbot and twelve monks - as it is called after the number of apostles.
The refoundation of this monastery was entrusted to Abbot Dieter of Morimond Primary Abbey, who arrived on March 24, 1138. However, the location of the donated lands seems to have been of little help in founding the monastery. Among other things, there seems to have been a lack of water.
Around 1146, the responsible bishop of Speyer, Günther von Henneberg, personally took care of the matter. He declared the place unsuitable and gave the monastery the bishop's fiefdom of Mulenbrunnen.

The monastery has except the really great buildings, events, etc. also a wonderful Biergrten with delicious red sausages

On the first weekend of December there is always a Christmas market in the Klosterhof of Maulbronn with about 120 stalls.

Further development
The complex quickly developed into an economic, social and political center of the region.
From 1156 the monastery was under the umbrella of Emperor Frederick I (HRR) (Barbarossa).[1] In 1232 the imperial bailiwick was confirmed. However, the convent then elected the bishop of Speyer as protector of the abbey. He seems to have given the bailiwick as a sub-bailiwick to his ministerial Heinrich von Enzberg, who is documented as the abbey's protector from 1236. Over the following decades, there were repeated, sometimes violent, disputes with the Lords of Enzberg, who tried to use their bailiwick of the monastery to expand their own position. From 1325 the Counts Palatine near the Rhine were entrusted with the bailiwick. During the Bavarian-Palatinate War of Succession, Duke Ulrich von Württemberg besieged the monastery in 1504, which fell after a seven-day siege. In the German Peasants' War 1525, the monastery was plundered by rebellious peasants. The Böckinger peasant leader Jäcklein Rohrbach was in Maulbronn at the time and complained to Hans Wunderer about the disorder among the insurgents, who could not agree on whether the monastery should be burned, demolished or sold. It is thanks to Rohrbach's intervention that the buildings were ultimately preserved.

The Maulbronn Cistercian monastery, founded in 1147, is considered to be one of the most complete and best-preserved medieval monastery complexes north of the Alps. In its entirety, Maulbronn is unique in the world, making it possible to reconstruct a reliable picture of countless damaged monastery complexes.

unesco.de/kultur-und-natur/welterbe/welterbe-deutschland/klosteranlage-maulbronn

Since the monastery is very crowded, you should make the exploration either early or late in the evening. Then it is very pleasant.

A must if you are nearby. World Heritage.
Heavy crowds on weekends, prefer to go during the week.
And in December a super nice Christmas market

Huge historical monastery complex. In addition to an extensive tour, the paths around the outside are also worthwhile, for example the view from the vineyards above. Absolute highlight: on the 2nd weekend in Advent there is a very nice Christmas market in the cloister courtyard.

The Maulbronn Monastery is always worth a visit. Architecture with history. Refreshments are also available. Around the monastery there are great opportunities for hiking or biking.

Bischofslehen zu Mulenbrunnen in a secluded forest valley of the Salzach. It was probably moved there in the summer of 1147.

The Maulbronn Monastery is worth a visit in every season.

de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloster_Maulbronn

Further development
The complex quickly developed into an economic, social and political center of the region.
From 1156 the monastery was under the umbrella of Emperor Frederick I (HRR) (Barbarossa).[1] In 1232 the imperial bailiwick was confirmed. However, the convent then elected the bishop of Speyer as protector of the abbey. He seems to have given the bailiwick as a sub-bailiwick to his ministerial Heinrich von Enzberg, who is documented as the protector of the abbey from 1236. Over the following decades, there were repeated, sometimes violent, disputes with the Lords of Enzberg, who tried to use their bailiwick of the monastery to expand their own position. From 1325 the Counts Palatine near the Rhine were entrusted with the bailiwick. During the Bavarian-Palatinate War of Succession, Duke Ulrich von Württemberg besieged the monastery in 1504, which fell after a seven-day siege. In the German Peasants' War in 1525

In the monastery yard are often interesting events

The sculptures stand in charming contrast to the monastery complex.