SearchOld monasteries and churches await in Southwest GermanyThe Christian Post To enjoy our website, you'll need to enable JavaScript in your web browser. Please click here to learn how You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience 2021The former Maulbronn Monastery in Maulbronn | Dennis LennoxA recent road trip across Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg was created in the aftermath of World War II from the historically separate territories of Baden and Württemberg For centuries they existed as duchies or kingdoms first within the fragmented Holy Roman Empire and later in the unified German Empire until the various monarchies were abolished following the kaiser’s loss in World War I including in the religious fabric of Southwest Germany where Lutheranism came to dominate after the Reformation adherents of the old religion still make up a plurality in Baden-Württemberg the capital of this state and a city many know for Mercedes-Benz and Porsche After spending the night at an airport hotel and embarked upon a four-night trip that took me to Maulbronn Calw and Alpirsbach in the Black Forest followed by Reichenau Island Constance and Meersburg near Lake Constance in the foothills of the Alps I first stopped at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Maulbronn Monastery in Maulbronn The remarkably complete and well-preserved medieval monastic complex dates to the first half of the 12th century and includes the former Cistercian abbey church — a Lutheran church since the Reformation — and assorted outbuildings that have been repurposed over the centuries a self-guided audio tour in English was available but it allowed me to explore at my own pace and not worry about keeping up with a guide Hands down the best part of the former monastery is the church’s interior with numerous period architectural and decorative details including misericords on the underside of the extensive quire stalls An hour away is Calw, where I would sleep at the Hotel Kloster Hirsau after visiting the ruins of Hirsau Abbey Destroyed during the Nine Years’ War at the end of the 17th century the ruins are a blend of Romanesque and Gothic architecture the one-time Benedictine abbey resembles a romanticism painting What appears to be the surviving church was originally a mere chapel It was heavily modified in a gaudy and inauthentic attempt at Gothic revival in the 19th century for use by the local Lutheran parish Without much to do besides a walk around the ruins you might consider skipping Hirsau for more time at the next destination The Gothic cloister at Alpirsbach Abbey in Alpirsbach, Germany. | Dennis LennoxHaving woke up early the next day I made my way to Alpirsbach where a Benedictine monastery existed from its founding in the 11th century until the dissolution in the 16th century by the then-duke of Württemberg cathedralesque edifice — a fine specimen of mostly Romanesque architecture — is the third iteration of the abbey church and dates to the 12th century This includes the circa 1130 tympanum above the west front’s doors a masterpiece wooden altar from the early 1500s is in the north transept As with the other pre-Reformation monastic churches the space is presently used for the rites of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Württemberg incorporated in an adjoining building that originally served as the abbot’s residence including a rare painted wood Romanesque lectern were self-explanatory almost nothing was translated For my second night, I stayed at Hotel St. Elizabeth The upscale three-star hotel sits on the grounds of a modern-day monastery belonging to the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross After one of the best breakfasts of my trip, I drove about 5 miles to Reichenau Island I also wouldn’t have seen the treasury room with its holy relics Mark the Evangelist and a pitcher used during the wedding at Cana A short drive away through vineyards and farm fields is the Church of St. George The Romanesque church looks mostly unchanged since its founding by the archbishop-elector of Mainz who built the church after receiving the skull of St one finds a nave lined with spectacular wall paintings the eight paintings depict biblical miracles performed by Jesus They are complemented by a depiction of the last judgment from 1708 or 1709 in the west apse hosted an important pre-reformation church council from 1414 until 1418 a mid-sized university city on Germany’s border with Switzerland The big draw here is Constance Minster which hosted the Council of Constance during its centuries-long stint as the cathedral and seat of the prince-bishop of Constance was presided over by the Holy Roman emperor and settled the schism that resulted in competing papal claimants and condemned early Reformer Jan Hus to death by burning at the stake While its appearance has changed — the church’s exterior was given a Gothic makeover — the Romanesque nave from the time of the council remains largely intact Running behind schedule and out of daylight, I retrieved my rental car from the underground parking garage at the Fish Market (Fischmarkt) and drove to the car ferry for the shuttle across Lake Constance to Meersburg. Here, I slept at the family-owned Hotel Löwen (more on that later) the museum café has outdoor seating with million-dollar panoramic views The cobblestoned streets have something to discover around every corner — think vines growing in every vacant parcel on the steep slope separating the upper and lower old towns, centuries-old half-timbered buildings, and endless other photo opportunities for the Instagram set. One of my unexpected discoveries was the Bible Gallery which occupies a 500-year-old former Dominican convent next to the tourism office on the aptly named Church Street (Kirchstraße) Established in 1988 by the Evangelical or Protestant Church in Baden the multi-floor museum tells the story of the Bible and how it continues to influence daily life even in a highly secular society Exhibits include countless artifacts and other objects all of which are intended to have the soft touch of evangelization There is also a recently revamped English self-guided audio tour My fourth and final night in Southwest Germany was spent at a countryside inn on the grounds of Salem Monastery and Palace a Cistercian abbey-turned-palace-turned boarding school The former Imperial Abbey of Salem was founded in 1136 and thrived as one of the most prominent monasteries in the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1803 during the age of Napoleon The baroque and rococo buildings — the original Gothic abbey church miraculously escaped a great fire in 1697 — were expropriated by the former Grand Duchy of Baden whose rulers kept most of the estate until 2009 when the state government of Baden-Württemberg purchased everything except a small wing occupied by the 88-year-old margrave of Baden the one-time monastery is split between a small noble residence and an elite boarding school with visitors admitted during normal hours for sightseeing and tours the inn’s location beyond the gate means no after-hours access Germany is fully open to vaccinated Americans Visitors should be prepared to show proof — the paper vaccine cards with the CDC logo work — at restaurants especially on stretches of the autobahn highways without a posted speed limit Just be sure to get a rental with guaranteed GPS navigation The built-in navigation on my Renault rental was excellent and easy to use after I changed the system’s language to English you will want to carry some spare change as parking lots don’t generally accept credit card payments carry plenty of cash because an unusually high number of small shops restaurants and even hotels in Germany don’t accept credit cards I would have stayed another night or two at Hotel St While overnighting at the heart of Meersburg’s old town was memorable it was also an inconvenience due to the combination of pedestrian streets and extremely limited to nonexistent parking Information, including at most of the old monasteries and churches covered in this column, was seldom translated. English-speaking guides can be booked through the local tourism offices in Constance and Reichenau though tours may not be available every day Expect to use Google Translate at hotel restaurants as English menus were also rare Despite Delta Air Lines discontinuing its nonstop service from Atlanta to Stuttgart the airport can still be reached from major U.S Follow @dennislennox on Instagram and Twitter Dennis Lennox writes about travel, politics and religious affairs. He has been published in the Financial Times, Independent, The Detroit News, Toronto Sun and other publications. Follow @dennislennox on Twitter Help keep The Christian Post free for everyone By making a recurring donation or a one-time donation of any amount you're helping to keep CP's articles free and accessible for everyone Hope you’ll give us another try and check out some other articles. Return to homepage. Vulture Editor Famke Veenstra-Ashmore reviews the Fitzwilliam Museum’s latest exhibition by Famke Veenstra-Ashmore Yet the Fitzwilliam museum’s latest curative venture True to Nature: Open-air Painting in Europe 1780-1870 features artists that ‘invite us to understand the different truths they see.’ With the various angles taken we get the sense that nature cannot be defined by a singular sense of truth but can be encountered in its varying multitudes The exhibition takes us through these various different encounters No singular subject is shown as more significant – demonstrating the multitude of truths that can be found in its artistic representations “The collection and curation of these objects were viewed through a similar artistic lens as painting” What struck me the most was how innovatively the exhibition is presented, like the Hockney exhibition it is an amalgamation of traditional curation and more interactive features Alongside the walls of slick oil paintings are mock-ups of outdoor painting scenarios directly mirroring the set-up of Jean-Baptise Camille Corot as he presenting the works not just as individual observations but as inextricably connected as versions of a momentary Its specific innovation comes from it aspiring to total immersion Perhaps one of the most ephemeral of natural subjects is clouds and this exhibition certainly uses their implications to underline what it means to be ‘true to nature’ in art an entire wall is dedicated to the depiction of clouds with time lapses of contemporary artists venturing out and emulating the traditional method of painting en plein air (outside) whilst illustrating their local landscapes Modern examples within this exhibition are rare but the Fitzwilliam takes the opportunities digital display has to offer to portray the continuity of this subject as universally thought-provoking Luke Howard’s 1803 essay Modifications on Clouds is displayed with as much prominence as the artworks itself demonstrating the importance of both artistic and academic theory on how artists approached their subjects ‘untouched’ landscapes of figures like Corot and John Constable are ‘built environments’ to quote the exhibition’s explanatory text This outlook ties into much of the Fitzwilliam’s famous collections and allows for a distinctly human perspective on nature to remain with pieces such as Frederik Sødring’s The Monastery of Alpirsbach Near Freudenstadt (late 1830) characterising its community without having to depict a single person A Romantic fascination with ruination and remains is found in works such as Eugène Isabey’s Ruins of the Théâtre-Italien After the Fire of 1838 (1839) showcasing the exhibition’s acute attention to both evolving and remaining life Traditional landscapes are accompanied by other artefacts A section on volcanoes showcases how artists have responded to the fascinating process and subsequent products of volcanic eruption Not only was the natural phenomenon illustrated through the extremities of light enabled by oil paints as exemplified by Jean-Charles-Joseph Rémond’s Eruption of Stromboli (1842) but also through actual displays of actual igneous rocks and minerals produced by the mirroring events The collection and curation of these objects were viewed through a similar artistic lens as painting whilst also of course taking on scientific value in how they reflect the topographical qualities of nature often uncharted through paintings The exhibition does not shy away from these scientific elements featuring academic books and discourse which accompanied the intense artistic study of these objects and phenomena This extends into an entire section dedicated to trees – pieces which both explore its traditional symbolism – strength but moreover preoccupied with its relationship with detail and specificity Bark is transformed from a signifying feature to an emblem of texture in paintings Darwin-esque records of natural life displayed in the same manner as portraits that being ‘true to nature’ is simply keeping an authentic record of what you observe in relation to these subjects which cannot be artificially replicated This exhibition embodies the idea that artwork is the closest you get at projecting and sharing that sense of truth “We get the sense that nature cannot be defined by a singular sense of truth” Hockney’s Eye: The Art and Technology of Depiction we remain aware that it ‘remains a constant as relayed to us in the exhibition’s initial explanatory text All of the pieces displayed take on a unique individuality never to be observed in the same way again – vulnerable as memory the acknowledgement that these landscapes were captured through artistic creation True to Nature: Open-air Painting in Europe 1780-1870 is at the Fitzwilliam Museum until August 29th. More information on the exhibition can be found here. Varsity is the independent student newspaper for the University of Cambridge All content © 1996-2025 Varsity Publications Ltd