The Franciscan Monastery

In the west of Ludwigstraße, next to the town wall, were once the Franciscan monastery and the poor Clares nunnery.

The Franciscan monastery in Hof was founded in the 13th century and dissolved after the reformation in 1529 – the exact dates of the beginning and the end are missing.

The convents claimed a big area in the northwest corner of the Neustadt and consisted of main buildings, a convent church, an oast and brew house as well as a big garden with a summer house for the monks.

In the course of time the dissolved monastery became a grammar school, a warehouse for army gear, a royal Bavarian hall for collecting tolls and fees, a theater and even an indoor riding area.

Only parts of the monastery still exist, namely the east wing and parts of the north wing. Since the reformation the buildings have been used as schools. The monks’ summer house, which is also still preserved, became the core of the Gymnasium (comparable to high school) which was founded in 1546.

A tablet at the old school reminds us of the Upper Franconian poet Jean Paul’s schooldays’; he is the eponym of the school. LAUDI EST EUM EGREGIAS INGENII DOTES NON NEGLEXISSE “A reason to compliment him is that he didn’t neglect his intellectual powers.”