Maulbronn Monastery, District of Enz, Baden-Württemberg

The name Maulbronn literally means “mule fountain.” This comes from the legend of how the monastery was set there: “during their search from a place that was more suitable than Eckenweiher, the monks loaded up a mule with a sack of money, gave it a blessing and a stroke of the whip and sent it on its way…where the Eselsbrunnen (“mule fountain”) stands today is where the mule was reputed to have stopped and quenched its thirst at a stream. The monks saw this a sign from God and it was there that they decided to build the monastery.” The coat of arms of the town, as well as a plaque on the actual fountain inside the Maulbronn complex, is of a mule drinking from the fountain,

The idea for the Maulbronn Monastery probably started in about the year 1138, in Eckenweiher near Mühlaker. The knight Walter of Lomersheim, inspired by the reformation ideas of Bernhard of Clairvaux, decided to dedicate his life to God by living in the seclusion of the monastic life. He founded a Cistercian monastery at his home in Eckenweiher. The Abbot Ulrich of Neuburg sent 12 monks and a few lay brothers to help. The original location was unsuited for the role of a monastery complex, however, and in 1147, it was moved to the nearby town of Maulbronn.

For the next 400 years, the monks at Maulbronn contributed to building up the monastery that greatly influenced medieval religion and culture, in addition to the economic and political landscape of the day. Even as early as the 12th century, they had built up massive agriculture empires. As one abbot put it, “our wine barrels are bigger than the living quarters of the Egyptian monks and our fruit stores more spacious than their monasteries.” It was a flourishing time for the monks at Maulbronn.

In the year 1504, the monastery was captured by the Duke Ulrich of Württemberg, following a 7-day siege. From that point on, the monastery enjoyed the special privileges of the protection of the King. When Ulrich’s son, Duke Christoph, came to power, he made Maulbronn into a school to train clergymen for the state’s Protestant church, which was just starting. In 1806, it turned into a Protestant Theological college and has been ever since.

In 1993, UNESCO made it into a cultural heritage site. According to UNESCO, it is “the most complete and best-preserved monastic complex north of the Alps.” The water management system, made up of a network of drains, irrigation canals, and reservoirs, is “exceptionally interesting” and played a very large part in its listing. The main buildings were constructed between the 12th and 16th centuries, and it is surrounded by fortified walls. The monastery’s church, built in a Transitional Gothic style, highly influenced the spread of Gothic architecture in the north and central Europe.