Dianne in front of Maulbronn church.
As I mentioned on the September 29th page, Maulbronn was a very late addition to our itinerary. But, despite its unexpected entry into our travel plans, it turned out to be an interesting and worthwhile place to visit.
I also mentioned that the main reason why we ended up at Maulbronn was because the weather made touring Ludwigsburg unattractive. But, there were other reasons why I found Maulbronn an attractive choice to visit. The first of those reasons was that it was described as one of the best preserved monastery complexes north of the Alps. Another reason was that it was also described as one of the few places where the Gothic and Romanesque styles co-existed within the same buildings. Finally, the complex was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993, meaning that it is a site of extraordinary historical or cultural significance. All of these qualifications piqued my interest in Maulbronn.
Our drive from Ramstein ended up taking us to a very small town in the middle of the Stromberg region (northern Baden-Wurttemburg state). We initially drove past the church in an attempt to find a parking spot near its door. But, our efforts were thwarted by walls surrounding the church. So, we turned back and found a parking spot outside the walls. I noticed that the walls extended quite a distance from the church itself and wondered why they were positioned in this location. The reason became apparent when we set foot inside the main gate. The walls not only enclosed the church, but also a perfectly preserved medieval town. I’ve only had a couple of moments in my travels where I felt like I was stepping back in time…this was one of them. I took a moment to glance around at my surroundings, and realized I had made a very good choice when I decided to add Maulbronn to our itinerary.
We made our way to one of the buildings, which housed the visitor’s center. Most of the signage inside the center was in German. But, we all recognized the sign which said that entrance to the monastery cost €5 for adults. Dianne and I paid our admission fee, while Kelly paid and extra €1.50 for an audio guide.
After looking at a scale model of the complex in the visitor’s center, we walked over to the church. On the walk, Kelly relayed the information that his audio guide was telling him. He said that the other buildings inside the walls were houses and shops for lay workers who supported the monastery. Their jobs were to feed the monks and repair the church, so that the monks could focus on prayer and teaching children in the monastery’s school. It turned out that Maulbronn had been quite famous for its school, which included Johannes Kepler (the astronomer) and Hermann Hesse (writer of Siddhartha) among its alumni.
We went inside the church. The interior was very dark, thanks to the cloudy day. But, it was easy to make out the combination of architectural styles about which I had read. The bottom half of the church’s walls were in the Romanesque style, as evident by the rounded arches. But, the pointed arches in upper half of the walls were telltale signs of the Gothic style. Interestingly enough, the styles didn’t conflict. They instead somehow complimented each other, with the Gothic style adding a lightness to the usually solid Romanesque structure. Other than the architecture, there was little to see inside the church’s nave. Most of the walls were stripped bare. The only items of interest were a large crucifix in the nave’s center (which looked like it was carved from a tree trunk) and the ceiling decorated in a floral pattern.
We left the church and went into the cloister itself. Upon entering the cloister, we had to walk one at a time through an airlock. We could only access the airlock by inserting our tickets into a slot. I had imagined that there would be someone who would take our tickets somewhere in the complex. So, the airlock seemed shockingly modern in a setting of antiquity like the cloister. Still, it was very efficient.
We walked through the room and hallways of the cloister. The whole environment was evocative and peaceful. I could easily imagine monks shepherding students to class, or processing in silence into the church to begin a day with prayer. My imagination was further stoked when we found a side passage that led us back into the church. Instead of going back into the nave, we instead ended up in the choir (which we couldn’t access from the nave). Here were all the gems that the nave lacked. There were medieval frescos on the walls, Fifteenth Century carved choir stalls standing at attention on either side of the choir, and magnificent fragments of a carved altar. All of these items were complimented by the same combination of architectural styles that were present in the nave. I thought to myself, “Now, this feels like a church.”
We strolled out of the church and finished our tour of the cloister. Two rooms stood out as we completed our tour. The first was the Brunnenkapelle, or Well Chapel. This exquisite room was simply a Gothic gazebo with a working water fountain in the room’s middle. While it doesn’t sound like much, the running water in the fountain and the room’s openness just added to the cloister’s contemplative atmosphere. Directly across from the Well Chapel was the Dining Hall (or Monk's Refectory). Where the Well Chapel was intimate, the Dining Hall was large enough to hold all the monks housed in the complex. The scale of the room just emphasized how powerful this monastery must have been in its prime.
After visiting the cloister, we headed back to the visitor’s center. On the way to the center, Kelly continued relaying the information that he had received through his audio guide. The guide provided enough context and information that I wished I had paid for an audio guide myself. Still, I was glad Kelly had made this investment, so that all of us could have a richer experience while touring the site. He dropped off the guide and we began walking back to the car. The rain had stopped, so I took another look around the monastery complex. I thought that The Shambles in York was the most “medieval” place I’d ever been. But, Maulbronn’s monastery complex put The Shambles all to shame. It was so authentic that it felt like something out of one of The Lord of the Rings movies. I absorbed the atmosphere for a little while longer, and then went to the car.
Maulbronn was definitely worth visiting. It is simply one of the best preserved sites I’ve ever visited. Anyone going there will certainly feel like they have stepped back in time to another era. But, if you go, realize that it’ll take some very modern transportation in order to make this journey. While there is train service to Maulbronn, one will have to make several connections before finally reaching the town. Instead, the best way to get there is by car (and even then, you’ll need a good map). Ultimately, one will need to set aside quite a bit of time to both arrive at and depart from Maulbronn. But, the journey will be worth the effort.
Maulbronn is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (closed on Mondays from November to March). As mentioned before, the cost to enter is €5 for adults.
Above:
1: Choir stalls in the church
2: Main Gate to Maulbronn complex
3: Mike and Kelly in front of Maulbronn church
4: The Monk's Refectory
5: The well in the Well Chapel
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