Kloster Urspring, Benedictine monastery in Schelklingen, Germany

Kloster Urspring is a former Benedictine nunnery by a spring in Urspring, near Schelklingen. Its church of St. Ulrich was rebuilt after a 17th-century fire, while the late-15th-century east wing retains its cloister and the west front has a narthex. The walled precinct includes the spring basin, a round tower, and guesthouses of 1495 and 1520.

The monastery was founded in 1127 when three brothers donated their land to St. Georgen Abbey. For more than 600 years a Benedictine nun community lived there until it dissolved in 1806.

The monastery church is dedicated to St. Ulrich and was rebuilt after a fire in the 17th century; its tower's lower storeys are late medieval. Three altar panels of St. Valentine, St. Barbara and St. George, painted by Bartholomäus Zeitblom and Bernhard Strigel, are now kept in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, not at Urspring. The name Urspring comes from the spring of a stream settled here, probably in the 10th century.

The monastery grounds are part of the UrspringRunde, a walking route of about 4 kilometers that connects Schelklingen town with the surrounding landscape. The path works well for a casual stroll and gives you a chance to see both the buildings and the natural setting.

The former abbess's residence, the Abtei, is first documented in 1622, and the church tower kept its baroque onion dome until 1832, when the manufacturer Georg Reichenbach had it removed to sell the copper. The octagonal shed roof seen today replaced it.