Kloster Maulbronn

The Black Forest


Billed as the best-preserved medieval monastery north of the Alps, this one-time Cistercian monastery was founded by Alsatian monks in 1147. It was born again as a Protestant school in 1556 and designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1993. Its famous graduates include the astronomer Johannes Kepler. Aside from the Romanesque-Gothic portico in the monastery church and the weblike vaulting of the cloister, it’s the insights into monastic life that make this place so culturally stimulating.

Maulbronn is 37km east of Karlsruhe, near the Pforzheim Ost exit on the A8. From Karlsruhe, take the S4 to Bretten Bahnhof (train station) and from there bus 700.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The Black Forest attractions

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2. Badisches Landesmuseum

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3. Marktplatz

18.6 MILES

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4. Museum beim Markt

18.61 MILES

At the northern tip of Marktplatz, Museum beim Markt presents an intriguing stash of post-1900 applied arts, from art nouveau to Bauhaus.

5. Schloss Favorite

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Sitting in parkland a five-minute walk north of the Residenzschloss is the petite baroque palace Schloss Favorite, built between 1717 and 1723 for Duke…

6. Marktplatz

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7. Kunsthalle Karlsruhe

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8. Residenzschloss

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Nicknamed the 'Swabian Versailles', the Residenzschloss is an extravagant 452-room baroque, rococo and Empire affair. The 90-minute chateau tours (in…

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