Maulbronn Monastery Complex

Maulbronn is the best preserved medieval Cistercian monastery complex in Europe. It is separated from the town by fortifications.

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

Year	Decision	Comments
1993	Inscribed	Reasons for inscription
1990	Deferred	Site should cover all relevant estate activities

Reviews

Martha Wiley (USA):
Maulbronn is still actively in use, all these hundreds of years after construction, as a school, so parts of the complex are off-limits to visitors. However, enough of it is open so that you can get a good feeling for what life was like in the 12 and 13th century monastery. I like the church especially, but it was very interesting to see the warming room (the only room in the monastery that had heat in the old days) and the dining halls.

We walked around outside the north wall of the monastery and around a small lake which I believe was created by damming a stream during the monastery's period of active use. Good half day trip.

Date posted: July 2005

Fanny Melian Havela (Finland):
Maulbronn was (at least that day) very empty, which provided excellent opportunity to just wander around in silence. It had a very authentic feel to it, which I believe had much to do with the purposeful withholding of drama or eyecatchers for tourists.
There was a piano in one empty hall, and I sneaked in and played a few accords.. very nice!

Have you been to Maulbronn Monastery Complex? Share your experiences!

Add your own review