Auf den Spuren Abt Knittels, Schöntal

What does the head of a monastic community have to do with Götz von Berlichingen?

The magnificent Schöntal Monastery is the start and finish of a tour that leads through beautiful valleys and gently uphill to the heights between the twin rivers Jagst and Kocher. Cyclists are surrounded by a magnificent landscape in which two "strong guys" have had a lasting impact.

With the merger of nine formerly independent municipalities to form the municipality of Schöntal in 1973, the economic and cultural unity that had grown since the founding of the Cistercian monastery of Schöntal in 1157 and was broken up by secularization in 1803 was restored.

Schöntal Monastery is considered the most beautiful Baroque ecclesiastical residence in the north of Baden-Württemberg. The monastery church (open daily), decorated with colorful frescoes and alabaster altars, was built between 1708 and 1727 under Abbot Benedikt Knittel according to plans by master builder Johann Leonhard Dientzenhofer. The New Abbey with its splendidly curved staircase is now home to the education center of the Rottenburg-Stuttgart diocese and the festival hall regularly hosts concerts of the Hohenlohe Cultural Summer. The complex has been completely renovated and is a must-see for every visitor to Hohenlohe.

Götz von Berlichingen and Goethe: The knight with the Iron Fist, to whom Goethe created a literary monument, found his final resting place in Schöntal Abbey after a very eventful life. Goethe read his biography in 1771 and wrote the "Ur-Götz". Two years later, he reworked the manuscript. The new work is published under the title "Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand. A play". In nearby Jagsthausen, this Götz play is performed every year at the festival.

Aschhausen Castle is a former hunting lodge of the Schöntal abbots. It was built in the 13th/14th century and destroyed in 1523 by order of the Swabian League. The castle keep has been preserved from this period. The present castle was built in the 17th/18th century and is now privately owned. A signposted medicinal plant and cultural landscape trail begins in the center of Aschhausen and leads over 2.5 kilometers as a circular route through the cultural landscape.</p