Bebenhausen Monastery

Count Palatine Rudolph von Tübingen founded the Bebenhausen Monastery most likely in 1183/84. The former Cisterian monastery had its zenith from the 13th to the 15th century when it was one of the richest  monasteries in Württemberg. Later on it served as a protestant convent school and as a hunting lodge for the kings of Württemberg. Between 1947 and 1952 it served as the domicil of the parliament of Württemberg-Hohenzollern. The members of parliament held meetings there and lived temporary in the monastery. Since 1975 the whole monastery has protected as a national monument.

 

The minster (monastery church) includes landmarks such as the crossing tower built of stone, and the conclave (cells) where the monks lived. The summer refectory is an architectural treasure, and was built in 1335. The cloister belongs to the best preserved and most important Late Gothical buildings of its kind in Southwest Germany.