Banz Abbey

Banz Abbey (Kloster Banz) crowns a ridge on the west bank of the Main valley directly opposite Vierzehnheiligen. The view across the valley between the two buildings is one of the finest Baroque set-pieces in Germany. The abbey church was built between 1698 and 1719 by Johann Dientzenhofer and his brother, with interior stucco work by Johann Jakob Vogel that fills the entire vault with swirling white decoration.

Today the complex is owned by the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, a foundation linked to the CSU, and operates as a conference centre. Visitors can see the church, the exterior, and the Urwelt-Museum Oberfranken — a natural history museum focused on the dinosaur and fossil record of Franconia. The setting is spectacular whatever the interior purpose: the terrace commands views across the Main to Vierzehnheiligen on the opposite ridge.

things to do sight architecture
A story
Banz was one of the wealthiest Benedictine monasteries in Franconia when it was secularised by Napoleon's forces in 1803. The Wittelsbach family bought the complex in 1814, and it passed through various hands before becoming a conference centre for the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian conservative party. The monks' choir stalls where Benedictine brothers once sang the Divine Office now sometimes seat German politicians discussing policy. A dinosaur museum has been added to the complex, which the original monks would presumably have found confusing.