Maulbronn, the almost 850 year old former Cistercian abbey, is considered to be the most complete, best preserved, thus most impressive medieval monastery complex north of the Alps. All manners of styles, transition styles, and developing steps from the early Romanesque to the late Gothic architecture are represented. The cloister's tracery alone appear to contain the boundless expressions of the stone mason art.

Twelve monks from Alsace began building the abbey in 1147 in the seclusion of the Salzach valley and set up the monastic establishment in accordance with the building rules and features of the Cistercian establishments already in existence in Burgundy. For 390 years the monks at Maulbronn lived, built, prayed, and worked, thus characterizing the entire cultural landscape in the manner typical of the Cistercian order.

After the Reformation, Duke Christopher of Württemberg arranged for a Protestant monastery school to be established in 1556, which was converted into a Protestant theological seminary in 1807 and still exists today.