15 Facts About Maulbronn Monastery

Maulbronn Monastery is a former Cistercian abbey and ecclesiastical state in the Holy Roman Empire located at Maulbronn, Baden-Wurttemberg.

Maulbronn Monastery was founded in 1147 and experienced rapid economic and political growth in the 12th century, but then hardship in the late 13th century and the 14th century.

New abbey at Maulbronn Monastery soon began a period of steady economic growth and legal security with the backing of both Bishop Henneberg, a supporter of the Cistericans and the Hohenstaufen, who were at the time the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1151, Maulbronn Monastery established Bronnbach Abbey, then acquired the Fullmenbacher and Elfinger farmsteads in 1152 and 1153 respectively, and then established Schontal Abbey in 1157.

Maulbronn Monastery has exempted from paying tithes and was made an Imperial Abbey by Emperor Frederick I in a 1156 that listed Maulbronn Monastery's possessions as comprising eleven farmsteads, portions of eight villages, and numerous vineyards.

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However, the number of lay brothers at Maulbronn dwindled over the 13th century, owing to conflict between them and the monks, and as a result the monastery increasingly relied on hired laborers to work its land.

In 1464, Maulbronn Monastery assumed the debts of Pairis Abbey in Alsace and incorporated it as a priory.

The number of monks at Maulbronn Monastery peaked at one hundred thirty-five in the 1460s and only dipped below one hundred again at the end of the century.

Maulbronn Monastery was the sole exception to this order, as it was to host monks expelled from other monasteries.

In 1536, Maulbronn Monastery's abbot relocated to Pairis and the next year began legal action to reclaim Maulbronn Monastery.

Maulbronn Monastery's holdings were absorbed into the Duchy and organized into a new administrative district.

Maulbronn Monastery was finally secularized by King Frederick I in 1806.

Maulbronn Monastery was protected by a stone wall, a drawbridge gate, and five towers.

The nearby Fruhmesserhaus displays a three-panel display made by the monks of Maulbronn Monastery documenting its foundation and attached circumstances.

Ancient quarters now house a boarding school, the Evangelische Seminar Maulbronn Monastery, operated by the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Wurttemberg.