Maulbronn () is a city in the district of Enz in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

in southern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

History

Founded in 1838, it emerged from a settlement, built around a monastery, which belonged to the Neckar Community in the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which existe ...

. In 1886, Maulbronn officially became a German town and was an administrative centre until 1938. The return of many displaced persons following the Second World War significantly raised the local population. Of particular note is the town's monastery,

Maulbronn Abbey Maulbronn Monastery (german: Kloster Maulbronn) is a former Cistercian abbey and ecclesiastical state in the Holy Roman Empire located at Maulbronn, Baden-Württemberg. The monastery complex, one of the best-preserved in Europe, was named a UNES ...

, which features prominently in

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include '' Demian'', '' Steppenwolf'', '' Siddhartha'', and '' The Glass Bead Game'', each of which explores an individual ...

's novel, ''

Beneath the Wheel ''Beneath the Wheel'' (''Unterm Rad'') is a 1906 novel written by Hermann Hesse. In 1957 it was reissued as ''The Prodigy'', in the Peter Owen Publishers translation. It severely criticizes education that focuses only on students' academic perf ...

''. The former

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

monastery has been a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

since 1993. Legend has it that the settlement was founded by monks who followed a mule to a valley with a source of clean water. The valley was also blessed with large deposits of soft sandstone for building. The monks built the original abbey and erected a fountain to honour the mule. The town name means mule fountain. According to legend, the monks of Maulbronn also invented the pasta dish

Maultasche (singular ''Maultasche'' , ) are a kind of large meat-filled dumpling in Swabian cuisine. They consist of sheets of pasta dough filled with minced meat, smoked meat, spinach, bread crumbs and onions and flavored with various herbs and spice ...

Activities

Maulbronn has a beautiful lake which is called "Tiefersee" which stands for "deep lake". The deep lake is a great attraction from May to September. Once a year there is a great Rock festival. The Turkish community of Maulbronn is organizing once a year a huge soccer tournament which is well visited and participated from all over Germany and sometimes even Poland, Austria and France.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the Coat of arms means: "In black on a abased, double-rowed from red and silver bar a to the left swept flowing gold fountain and a standing gold mule with a gold burden."

Partner cities

Partner cities/twin towns of Maulbronn are *

Valdahon Valdahon () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Population See also * Communes of the Doubs department The following is a list of the 571 communes of the Doubs department of Fran ...

Notes

{{Authority control Enzkreis Württemberg