The three monastery museums within the monastery walls are an exciting and informative added attraction for your visit to Maulbronn.
You'll find additional information on the opening hours and admission prices here.
The Cooperage building adjoins the Granary (Fruchtkasten) in the west and is connected to the defensive wall. It was built shortly before 1400 and may have initially housed the "Bursarium", i.e. the monastery's administrative offices.
Today the in Cooperage is home to the Information Center with the Monastery Ticket Office and Shop. On the ground floor a large model of the monastery is on display, and this is the starting point for all guided tours. On the second floor visitors are informed on Maulbronn in the post-monastic age, i.e. on the reformation of the monastery, on the Maulbronn Monastery School and on famous personages of Maulbronn. Here a new topic is now also covered in a room on the Cistercian cultural landscape.
The "Frühmesserhaus" (residential house for the monk who celebrated early mass) is a two-story early Gothic representation building with a large fireplace. Today it houses the Monastery Museum with the foundation panel from the time around 1450 and information on the Cistercians and their monastery. Visitors can inform themselves on Maulbronn as a Cistercian monastery, on medieval monastic life and on the economic structures of the Cistercians.
Tip: To experience the monastery's history in the right order, it's best to visit the Monastery Museum in the "Frühmesserhaus" first and then view the exhibition on the Maulbronn Monastery School in the Cooperage (Küferei).
The "Cellarium", i.e. the monastery's supply cellar, borders directly on the Monastery Church (Klosterkirche), a two-nave, vaulted hall cut deep into the ground. The Maulbronn Lapidarium, a collection of rocks and building components from Maulbronn, has been on exhibit here since 1997. It provides visitors with an insight into the building history of Maulbronn using the work of stonemasons, tools and explanations on medieval building methods.