Attraction · Bad Staffelstein · Updated on 1 November 2026.

Kloster Banz in Bad Staffelstein

Kloster Banz is an attraction in Bad Staffelstein, Bavaria. This place has a story in the app. Within 160 m you'll find a public toilet and a bench.

Directions in Google Maps

Kloster Banz in Bad Staffelstein, photo 2

Kloster Banz in Bad Staffelstein, photo 3

The story

Wikipedia ↗Official website ↗

Story · Kloster Banz

You're standing at Banz Abbey, high above the Main valley, just outside Bad Staffelstein. Turn around for a second. From up here you can see far across Upper Franconia. Around 1070, Countess Alberada of Schweinfurt and her husband, Count Hermann, founded a Benedictine abbey on this spot, inside their own castle. Until 1803 it was the oldest monastery on the upper Main.

Read the whole story in the Outdoor Pitstop app: check in at this place and it is yours (with Pro; new users are Pro for the first 4 weeks).

Opening hours and admission

Wheelchair: Partly accessible

Source: OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.

Photos

10 photos from Wikimedia Commons. In the app you add your own photo when you are there.

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Photo: Reinhold Möller Ermell · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0View the photo on Wikimedia Commons

Kloster Banz in Bad Staffelstein: a monastery above the Main

Kloster Banz in Bad Staffelstein is a large old monastery, founded around 1070. Learned monks lived here, and even visiting scholars came to carry out research. The complex holds a collection of fossils and also mummies. It now belongs to the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, a foundation that runs a conference centre here. From the hill you can look far across Oberfranken. You will find Kloster Banz near Bad Staffelstein, high above the Main valley.

Baroque buildings and a church full of ellipses

All the buildings you see here are Baroque. The saints on the church façade are by Balthasar Esterbauer. The church is not large, but the space feels special. Almost no right angles appear, because the interior is built up from a series of ellipses. Look up at the ceiling paintings by Melchior Steidl and notice the stucco work. The high altar and the pulpit are also by Esterbauer. The choir stalls, the wooden seats in front of the choir, were made by Johann Georg Nesstfell. The church is still the parish church of Altenbanz, so this is a church that is still in use.

The history of Kloster Banz

Countess Alberada von Schweinfurt and her husband, Hermann, founded an abbey here, within their own castle. Until 1803 it was the oldest monastery on the upper reaches of the Main. The monastery had a run of bad luck. In 1505 it burnt down to a large extent. In 1525, rebellious peasants plundered it, and once again everything went up in flames. Later, during the war, troops passed through. When they left, the monastery lay in ruins once more. After that came the great rebuilding. The master builder Leonhard Dientzenhofer began the work. After his death in 1707, his brother Johann took it over. The church was consecrated in 1719. In 1803 the monastery was dissolved. The library and the art treasures disappeared, and the burial vault was turned into a cowshed. The complex was saved from demolition. It then became a summer residence, with hunting parties and plenty of aristocratic visitors. Since then it has also been called Slot Banz.

Opening times, tickets and accessibility at Kloster Banz

If you want to visit the monastery, check the official website first at klosterbanz.de. You will find the opening times and ticket information there. This page does not list fixed times or prices, as these may change, so please check them on the website before setting off. The complex is partly accessible for wheelchairs, which means you cannot get everywhere in a wheelchair. If you are unsure about a part of your visit, look up on the website in advance which areas you can visit. That way you will know what to expect beforehand.

Toilets, drinking water and benches nearby

A public toilet is 135 metres from Kloster Banz, and it is wheelchair accessible. There are 2 public toilets within 500 metres in total. If you want to sit down for a while, there are 13 benches at Kloster Banz within 500 metres, and the nearest one is 157 metres away. Drinking water is harder to find here. According to our map, there is no water tap within 1 km of Kloster Banz, so bring your own water if you are going to walk or cycle here.