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Salomon Chapelle: |
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Virtual Tour of the Monastery
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Near Mühlacker, in Maulbronn, is a monastery more than 850 years old. Twelve monks from Alsace began building the abbey in 1147. For 390 years, monks practiced the Cistercian order there. Surrounded by fortified walls, the main buildings were constructed between the 12th and 16th centuries. Following the Protestant reformation, the monastery was dissolved and Maulbronn became the seat of the Dukes of Württemberg.
In the early 1700s, the present town of Maulbronn did not exist. Only the monastery was there. The town was first founded after growth in the late 1800s. There was also a Protestant school at the monastery, originally established by Duke Christopher of Württemberg in 1556. It was converted to a Protestant theological seminary in 1807 and still exists today. In 1993, the Maulbronn Monastery Complex was designated by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Cultural Heritage site. As of 2006, there are 830 such sites worldwide. The monastery's architecture contributed to this designation. The complex combines various architectural styles, from the Romanesque style on the north side to light Gothic form of expression on the south side. The monastery's church, mainly in Transitional Gothic style, had a major influence in the spread of Gothic architecture over much of northern and central Europe. The water-management system at Maulbronn, with its elaborate network of drains, irrigation canals and reservoirs, is of exceptional interest given the older time period.
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 Maulbronn Monastery (Photographer: Otto Braasch)
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Sources (1) Bellon, Eugen. Vertrieben, verweht, verwurzelt : die französisch-reformierten Einwanderer in Dürrmenz, 1699-1735. (Sickte : Verlag des Deutschen Hugenotten-Vereins, 1987), 149. Family History Library international book, no film copy. (2) Maulbronn Klosterstadt online, Internet website: <http://www.maulbronn.de> (3) Historical Heritage in Baden-Wurttemberg, Internet website: <http://home.bawue.de/~wmwerner/index_e.html>, <http://home.bawue.de/~wmwerner/english/maulbron.html> (4) Schloesser-magazin.de website for Maulbronn Monastery, Internet website: <http://www.schloesser-magazin.de/eng/objekte/ml/mlthe.php> (5) Tom Galvin's Travelogue Page, Maulbronn -- Famous Monastery Town Hidden Away, Internet website: <http://www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/baden_wuerttemberg/maulbronn.htm>
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The
citizens of the region would still pay or contribute a portion of the
food, products they produced, or money (Naturalabgaben) to collection points (Pfleghof).
This was more common in earlier
medieval times. In 1714,
Salomon Chapelle was the carrier of these products from the citizens of
Schönenberg to the Maulbronn pfleghof. Maulbronn's
pfleghofs were scattered around in various villages. One such
pfeghof was in the village of Ötisheim,
which is located adjacent to Schönenberg.
Today it remains a site of local interest.
Perhaps this was the pfeghof where Salomon made his deliveries.
