Description of the attraction
The Wiblingen monastery, or the Benedictine abbey of Wiblingen, is located in the southern outskirts of Ulm. This huge complex of various buildings has only recently become part of the city; on the territory of the former monastery are the buildings of the Ulm Medical University and several municipal buildings, a functioning Catholic church and a museum-library.
Wiblingen monastery was founded by brothers Otto and Hartmann Kirchberg even before the First Crusade in 1093. The first buildings were consecrated in 1099, and at the same time from the First Crusade Counts Kirchberg brought a valuable relic - a piece of the Cross on which Christ was crucified. To this day, this legendary trophy of the founders is kept in the monastery church, attracting many pilgrims.
Over the next few centuries, the monastery was repeatedly destroyed as a result of hostilities, burned, buildings and stored values were looted and destroyed, so the original buildings of the abbey were not preserved. The construction of the surviving complex of buildings in the late Baroque style began in 1714. In 1806, the monastery was disbanded and was no longer revived in this capacity, and the former abbey housed the ducal residence and the soldiers' barracks.
Of particular note is the building of the monastery library, built in 1744. Initially, this hall was intended to receive high-ranking guests and was supposed to amaze them with its magnificence and solemnity. Now the beauty of the frescoes by Martin Kuhn and the grace of the sculptures by Dominik Herberg serve as a worthy frame for tens of thousands of the most valuable books, manuscripts and incunabula.
