Alpirsbach Monastery

Founded in 1095, the abbey keeps an austere Romanesque church of red sandstone with almost no ornament, in the reform style of Hirsau. After the Reformation it became a Protestant monastery school, and during restoration work items were recovered from beneath the floorboards of the pupils' rooms: notes, exercises, letters, playing cards, shoes and pieces of clothing dropped through the gaps over centuries and preserved, now displayed as an unusually direct record of school life in the 1500s and 1600s. The Alpirsbacher brewery beside the monastery uses water from the same source and runs tours and tastings.

Background

Early in 1095 Adalbert, Count of Zollern, together with Alwik and Ruotmann von Neckarhausen, gave the Benedictines about 50 square kilometres of land. Monks from the Black Forest abbey of Sankt Blasien settled it, and Bishop Gebhard consecrated the church in 1099. From 1479 abbot Hieronymous Hulzing started a series of building projects. Duke Christoph dissolved the monastery in 1556, and the seminary that followed lasted until 1595, teaching around 200 students. Much of the land was sold off in the 19th century, and a railroad built between 1882 and 1886 removed the medieval defenses. Annual Classical music concerts and a history museum came in the second half of the 20th century.

Source: Wikipedia, "Alpirsbach Abbey"

Highlights

• The floorboard finds - schoolboys' notes, cards and clothing from the 1500s.
• The Romanesque church - a plain red sandstone interior in the Hirsau manner.
• The cloister - late Gothic vaults around the courtyard.
• The brewery - production beside the abbey with tours and tastings.

When to go

April to October; the monastery closes Mondays in some seasons and reduces winter hours. Brewery tours run on set days and should be booked.

Before you go

The church interior is deliberately plain. The monastery closes on some days. Brewery tours are limited and separate.

Nearby

Schiltach lies south-west; Freudenstadt is north.

Key facts