Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Hermann Hesse

Maulbronn Monastery was founded in 1147. The church, built in a style transitional from Romanesque to Gothic, was consecrated in 1178. Most other buildings followed within the 13th century. The complex is believed to be one of the the best-preserved medieval Cistercian monastery complex north of the Alpes (some claim "in Europe"). Since 1993 Maulbronn is part of the Unesco World Heritage. After the consecration, the construction of the abbey continued. Around 1200 a narthex was added and the cloister was started. Some buildings are done in a really remarkable architectural, early gothic style. The person, who built that must have had experiences from Northern France and Burgundy. With all the cistercian connections, it was probably easy to find a "top architect". His name is not known, so the name given to him by art historians is "Meister des Maulbronner Paradieses" (Master of Maulbronn Paradise). After the Reformation the monastery was damaged and looted a couple of times. It got secularised in 1534 and a Protestant seminary was opened here. One of the students of the early years was mathematican, astronomer (and astrologer) Johannes Kepler, author of "Mysterium Cosmographicum". In 1807 the seminary merged with another to "Evangelical Seminaries of Maulbronn and Blaubeuren" - and still today a boarding school exists here. Hermann Hesse ("The Steppenwolf", "The Glass Bead Game", "Siddhartha"..) had lived here for a very unhappy year at the age of fourteen. Actually he fled from the Seminary in 1892 - and later featured his experiences in the novel "Beneath the Wheel". I had noticed, that the walls of the narthex, the cloister and even the church, were covered with thousends of graffitis and the knowledgeable lady had told me, that already very early it was customary to the students, to carve in their names somewhere into the stones.. This led to the "idée fixe", that I would be the lucky guy, to find a carved autograph of Hermann Hesse. I spent hours. Meanwhile the museum in Calw closed. I found many names, but no "Hermann Hesse", no "H.Hesse", no "Hesse" not even a "H.H.".

Maulbronn Monastery was founded in 1147. The church, built in a style transitional from Romanesque to Gothic, was consecrated in 1178. Most other buildings followed within the 13th century. The complex is believed to be one of the the best-preserved medieval Cistercian monastery complex north of the Alpes (some claim "in Europe"). Since 1993 Maulbronn is part of the Unesco World Heritage. After the consecration, the construction of the abbey continued. Around 1200 a narthex was added and the cloister was started. Some buildings are done in a really remarkable architectural, early gothic style. The person, who built that must have had experiences from Northern France and Burgundy. With all the cistercian connections, it was probably easy to find a "top architect". His name is not known, so the name given to him by art historians is "Meister des Maulbronner Paradieses" (Master of Maulbronn Paradise). After the Reformation the monastery was damaged and looted a couple of times. It got secularised in 1534 and a Protestant seminary was opened here. One of the students of the early years was mathematican, astronomer (and astrologer) Johannes Kepler, author of "Mysterium Cosmographicum". In 1807 the seminary merged with another to "Evangelical Seminaries of Maulbronn and Blaubeuren" - and still today a boarding school exists here. Hermann Hesse ("The Steppenwolf", "The Glass Bead Game", "Siddhartha"..) had lived here for a very unhappy year at the age of fourteen. Actually he fled from the Seminary in 1892 - and later featured his experiences in the novel "Beneath the Wheel". I had noticed, that the walls of the narthex, the cloister and even the church, were covered with thousends of graffitis and the knowledgeable lady had told me, that already very early it was customary to the students, to carve in their names somewhere into the stones.. This (unfortunately) led to the "idée fixe", that I would be the very lucky guy, to find a carved autograph of Hermann Hesse, that nobody had seen before. I spent hours. Meanwhile the museum in Hirsau closed, what I found out too late.... I found many names, but no "Hermann Hesse", no "H.Hesse", no "Hesse" not even a "H.H.". Even the bishop´s tomb, placed inside the church near the choir, is covered with names.

Maulbronn Monastery was founded in 1147. The church, built in a style transitional from Romanesque to Gothic, was consecrated in 1178. Most other buildings followed within the 13th century. The complex is believed to be one of the the best-preserved medieval Cistercian monastery complex north of the Alpes (some claim "in Europe"). Since 1993 Maulbronn is part of the Unesco World Heritage. After the consecration, the construction of the abbey continued. Around 1200 the narthex was added and the cloister was started. Some buildings are done in a really remarkable architectural, early gothic style. The person, who built that must have had experiences from Northern France and Burgundy. With all the cistercian connections, it was probably easy to find a medieval "top architect". His name is not known. The name given to him by art historians is "Meister des Maulbronner Paradieses" (Master of Maulbronn Paradise). He created not only the narthex ("Paradies"), but as well parts of the cloister and the refectorium. After completing his job in Maulbronn he turned northeast. His typical works can be found as well in Halberstadt and in Magdeburg, but here is, where he started his career in Germany.. Within the cloister, it is visible, where "Meister des Maulbronner Paradieses" planned and built, as there (near the church) is a very early gothic style. Walking from there the style of the arches changes to high gothic. These arches, next to the fountain house, were probably created during the 14th century. You can see some older arches in the background. I mentioned, that Hermann Hesse, born 1877 in Calw (50 kms south) spent a very unhappy year here at the age of fourteen. In his novel "Beneath the Wheel" Hesse wrote about the time here. He returned later, walked around the cloister, sat down somewhere near to the fountain and wrote a wonderful poem, titled "Im Maulbronner Kreuzgang". Read it in German: www.hermann-hesse.de/node/985 Read it in English www.hermann-hesse.de/en/node/986

Maulbronn Monastery is so complex, that I upload this photo of an architectural model as an overview. Many detailled shots will follow. This is believed to be one of the the best-preserved medieval Cistercian monastery complex north of the Alpes. All buildings seen here in small scale are still in place, even the fortification still runs all around. The monastery was founded in 1147. The church, built in a style transitional from Romanesque to Gothic, was consecrated in 1178. A number of the other buildings, seen here followed within the 13th century. After the Reformation the monastery was looted a couple of times. It got secularised in 1534 and in 1556 a Protestant seminary opened. Johannes Kepler studied here some years later. In 1630 the Cistercians returned. Only two years later, they were forced out again and the seminary reopened again. In 1807 the seminary merged with another to "Evangelical Seminaries of Maulbronn and Blaubeuren" - and still today a boarding school exists here. Authors Friedrich Hoelderlin and Hermann Hesse studied here. Hesse´s novel "Beneath the Wheel" features Maulbronn.