Klostermuseum Wittichen

Wittichen Monastery Museum

The Wittichen Monastery Museum lives up to its name in two respects. Firstly, it is located in the monastery area of the charming Wittichen valley, 5 kilometres from Schenkenzell, and secondly, its exhibits come almost exclusively from the monastery itself, which used to be much larger. In the middle of the 19th century, the extensive complex, with the exception of the church and the long building, was demolished in order to save on repair costs. At that time, the monastery and its extensive woodlands were owned by the Prince of Fürstenberg. He had received it during the secularisation of German church property by Napoleon in 1803 in order to make the monastery church the parish church of the Kaltbrunn community of the time three years later.
However, these events are long gone. In 1979, Prince Joachim zu Fürstenberg transferred the monastery to the parish of Wittichen. There are 330 Catholics living in the parish of All Saints, Wittichen. Time has also left its mark on the monastery. During the renovation in 1979/80, after the prince had handed it over to the parish in a donation contract, the "long building" was converted into a parish residence with a parish hall. What remains is the parish centre on the lower floor. Two large flats on the middle floor, which were once occupied by the priest and his housekeeper, are now empty. They are no longer needed. The former monastery cells on the upper floor are now unusable. However, they represent something like the original cell of the monastery museum. For many years, profane and sacred objects were stored in them, not particularly protected from theft and decay, which today enrich the small museum as exhibits. The Prince of Fürstenberg had included them in his Donaueschingen collections before they were opened in 1992 and found their place in the museum, which is now visited by around 1500 visitors a year. This, in turn, was set up in the former monastery stables, now a listed, beautiful half-timbered house.
Many beautiful, remarkable and curious treasures can be found here: old hand-carved grave crosses, ornaments, traditional Fürstenberg costumes, minerals, Good Friday ratchets, old handicrafts, parament cabinets and the colourful chasubles kept in display cases.

Guided tours for groups of 10 or more by appointment:
Tel. 07836/9397-51