Kloster Bernstein

Kloster Bernstein is a former monastery in Sulz am Neckar featuring a large vaulted drip well from 1448 that underwent renovation in 1620, along with the original monk's garden displaying columns and pedestals. The building displays crafted details such as side altars with fine inlay work and altar canvases painted by Franz Sebald Unterberger.

The monastery was founded in 1361 as a brotherhouse for hermits and shifted to Franciscan tertiaries in the 16th century. Secularization occurred in the early 1800s, after which the building underwent several different uses.

From 1946 to 1955, this location housed the Bernsteinschule, a private art school that revitalized the South German art scene after World War II. Artists like HAP Grieshaber left their mark here and continue to shape the place's character today.

The monastery complex now functions as a private agricultural estate and is not regularly open to visitors. It is advisable to check accessibility ahead of time and visit only by prior arrangement.

A ceiling mural of an Angel of Death by HAP Grieshaber from the art school era is a surprising artwork documenting the place's creative phase. This work shows how modern artists reinterpreted the historic space.

GPS coordinates: 48.34664,8.72292

Latest update: December 14, 2025 17:00