Many legends and tales are centered around Maulbronn Monastery, and the fact that most have never been historically proven reduces neither their charm nor their ability to survive through the ages.
The Mule and the Monastery
This "founding anecdote" tells the tale of Walter von Lomersheim, who 850 years ago supposedly loaded a mule with a sack of money and decided to build a monastery where it stopped and threw off its burden. The loaded animal turned to a place "which is now called Maulbronn " (mule is "Maultier" in German), and brought forth a spring from the rock there with powerful blows from its hoofs.
The Abbot and the Devilish
Doctor The legend of the stay of Doctor Faustus is certainly among the "Top 10" events surrounding the monastery that cannot be proved.However, there does appear to be some "evidence" of the connection of the figure of Faust to Maulbronn.
The most impressive is the "stone witness", a veritable "Faust tower". Maybe Faust lived here during one of his visits to the monastery. Whatever the case, Abbot Johann Entenfuß, who served as the monk's spiritual leader for six years beginning in 1512, was, according to the Abbots' registry, a "Collega" of the magician Faustus. Why shouldn't this abbot, driven by the desire to build, have had dealings with the alchemist in order to have him produce gold? More powerful, more famous lords were still fascinated by this idea two centuries later. In any case, he was far from lucky and in the end the extravagant Entenfuß was dismissed for "playing havoc".