In 1147/48 the Cistercians founded the abbey "Mulenbrunnen" in an almost isolated location on the properties donated by Walter of Lomersheim and Bishop Gunther of Speyer. The name says it all: it refers to the ideal geographic valley location of the monastery at the Salzach springs (brunnen = spring) and announces its history of success as a prosperous water management enterprise (mulin = mill). Together with the cultural landscape the architecture of the Enclosure (Klausur) and the Farm (Wirtschaftshof) form an ensemble rich in history.
The Parish Church (Pfarrkirche) was consecrated in 1178. Around 1200 the Enclosure was in its Romanesque beginnings before the so-called "Architect of Paradise" (Paradiesbaumeister) undertook a restructuring in the Cloister (Kreuzgang) and introduced early Gothic forms in the entire complex. Perfect examples of this are the "Paradies" (portico) and the Men's Refectory (Herrenrefektorium). The Well House (Brunnenhaus), Lay Refectory (Laienrefektorium) and Hospital Corridor (Spitalgang) also originate from this period. The impressive buildings of the Domestic Estate document the monastery's increase in power around the middle of the 13th century.
Beginning in 1361 the Palgraves of the Rhine became protectors of the monastery and built it up to a bulwark against the Württemberg dynasty. At the same time, its central area experienced a Gothic modernization in the late 13th and the 14th century. The Chapter Hall (Kapitelsaal), Cloister (Kreuzgang), Well House (Brunnenhaus), work and study rooms bear witness to this fact. This is also the case in the church with its large painted tracery windows and frieze with coat of arms in the Monks' Choir (Mönchschor). A reform abbot added founders' chapels to the building and had them redecorated with paintings and appointed with net vaulting.
The Württemberg dynasty prevailed over the Palgraves and ruled over Maulbronn beginning in 1504. In the course of the Reformation, they installed the school in the monastery in 1556, which still exists today. The Enclosure tract was adapted to meet its requirements. Although Maulbronn retained both its political and its economic power, its structure was increasingly similar to that of a Swabian small town. And it is here that the Duke moved in representatively. The hunting palace in the Renaissance style was built around 1600.
With Secularization Maulbronn lost its political importance in 1803, however its symbolic value grew. The monastery was transfigured to the icon of a unified German Reich and turned into a museum. This is paralleled by ostentatious structural alterations which have in some cases been immortalized in prominent locations. The symbol of Maulbronn – the three-bowl fountain – is the result of such a "creative" reconstruction. Today renovation work is much more modest and attempts to preserve the building substance and protect the buildings.