Maulbronn Monastery in Germany

Maulbronn Monastery or also known as Kloster Maulbronn in German is considered as one of the best-preserved medieval Cistercian monastery complex in Europe. The Maulbronn Monastery is located on the outskirts of Maulbronn, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany and is separated from the town by fortifications. Since 1193, the Maulbronn Monastery is part of the Unesco Wolrd Heritage.

Maulbronn Monastery in Germany

Maulbronn City is situated in the Enzkreis District of south Germany that was founded in the year 1838 and raised from a settlement. The city of Maulbronn was built as residence for the Neckar Community that belonged to the Wurttemberg Kingdom. Maulbronn in Germany became an official city and served as an organizational center until 1938.

History of Maulbronn Monastery in Germany

The city of Maulbronn in Germany is very popular for its “Maulbronn Abbey” monastery or also called as the Maulbronn Monastery. It was included in the novel “Beneath the Wheel” by Hermann Hesse.

Corridor inside the Maulbronn Monastery in Germany

The Maulbronn Monastery was founded in 1147 under the auspices of the first Cistercian Pope named Eugenius III. The main church was built in a transitional style from Romanesque to Gothic and was consecrated in 1178 by Bishop Arnold of Speyer. There were also a number of other buildings in Maulbronn, Germany such as the auditorium, cellar, chapel, cooperage, forge, hall, infirmary, inn, mill, porch, refectory, another refectory and the south cloister, which followed the course of the 13th century. The east, north and west cloisters date back to the 14th century, as do most fortifications and the fountain house.

Cloister fountain in Maulbronn Monastery in Germany

After the Reformation broke out, the Duke of Wurttemberg named Ulrich, seized the Maulbronn Monastery in Germany during 1504, and later he built his hunting lodge and stables in the monastery. According to historians, the monastery was pillaged repeatedly, first by the knights under Franz von Sickengen in 1519, then again during the German Peasants’ War six years later. In the year 1534, Duke Ulrich of Wurttemberg secularized the Maulbronn Monastery, but the Cistercians regained control. The monastery also received an Imperial recognition under Charles V’s Augsburg Interim. In the year 1556, Duke Christoph of Wurttemberg built a Protestant seminary, together with Valentin Vannius becoming the first abbot two years later. Johannes Kepler also studied in the Maulbronn Monastery from 1586 to 1589.

inside the Maulbronn Monastery in Germany

In the year 1630, the Maulbronn Monastery in Germany was returned to the Cistercians by force of arms with Christoph Schaller von Sennheim becoming abbot. However, the restoration was short-lived, as Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden forced the monks to leave again two years later, with a Protestant abbot returning in 1633. The Maulbronn Monastery’s seminary  reopened the following year, although the Cistercians under Schaller also returned in 1634. Under the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the confession of the Maulbronn Abbey was settled in favor of Protestantism, with abbot Buchinger withdrawing during the process. In the year 1651, a Protestant abbacy was re-established with the seminary reopening five years later. While in 1692, the seminarians in the Maulbronn Monastery were removed to safety when Ezechiel du Mas, Comte de Melac, torched the school which remained closed for a decade.

The abbey was secularized by King Frederick I of Wurttemberg in the course of the German Mediatisation in the year 1807, forever removing its political quasi-independence, the Maulbronn Monastery‘s seminary merged with that of Bebenhausen the following year, now known as the Evangelical Seminaries of Maulbronn and Blaubeuren.

Ceiling in the Locutory, Maulbronn Monastery in Germany

The Maulbronn Monastery in Germany features prominently in Hermann Hesse’s novel “Beneath the Wheel,” and was listed in the World Heritage List in 1993. The justification inscription was as follows: “The Maulbronn complex in Germany is the most complete survival of a Cistercian monastic establishment in Europe, in particular because of the survival of its extensive water-management system of reservoirs and channels.” Hermann Hesse himself attended the Maulbronn Monastery before fleeing in 1891 after he attempted to kill himself and a failed attempt to save Hesse from his personal religious crisis by a well-known theologian and faith healer.

An image of the Maulbronn Abbey in Germany is set to appear representing Baden-Wurttemberg on the reverse of the 2013 €2 commemorative coin for Germany.

Visiting Maulbronn  Monastery in Germany

Maulbronn Monastery Complex in Germany

Locals and international tourists can enjoy the Maulbronn Monastery in Germany as it is a considered as one of the great tourist attractions in Germany. The Maulbronn Abbey opens at nine in the morning and closes at five in the afternoon between March to October and in between November to April, the Maulbronn Abbey opens at 9:30 in the morning and closes at five in the afternoon.