History of the town
The political roots of the municipality of Maulbronn only stretch back to the year 1838, when legislation was passed creating a new independent municipality with the power to raise taxes. New homes were built, the population grew and the variety of good restaurants and inns attracted many a visitor who came and stayed. In 1886, the growing confidence of Maulbronn experienced a welcome boost, when the municipality was given the status of a town. Even after this important event, the treasury responsible for managing the previous estate of the monastery stayed in Maulbronn, turning the town in many ways in to an administrative centre. For the citizens of Maulbronn, all economic and cultural activity focussed around farming, wine growing, crafts and trade. Up until the district was restructured in 1938, the district's administrative headquarters were also situated in Maulbronn, at the hunting lodge in the monastery courtyard. When Maulbronn was first given town status in 1886, it had a population of 1170. In the first few decades of the twentieth century, the town was slow to grow. In 1939, it was home to no more than 1615 people.
It wasn't until the arrival of emigrants displaced after the war, the incorporation of the village of Schmie into the town and the merger of the municipality of Zaisersweiher with Maulbronn that the population grew to four times the level before the war. Today, Maulbronn has a population of around 6,400, with some 1,000 of its citizens non-German nationals. In the course of its 150-year history, Maulbronn has experienced major structural changes, both as a municipality and a town. The once mainly farming-based community has become a tourist attraction and a centre of industry. It is home to a number of well-known businesses in a variety of sectors of industry, ranging from ceramics and aluminium casting, tools and machine-making to electrical engineering and automotive supply. All of these provide some 3,000 jobs to the community and make Maulbronn a small town with a flourishing economy. 1,300 people live in Maulbronn and work elsewhere, whereas 1,700 work in Maulbronn and live elsewhere.
Maulbronn's reputation as an academic centre of excellence is mainly due to the Protestant Theological College, a classical grammar and boarding school. The town itself, however, also continually invests in improving educational facilities. In October 1964, for example, an elementary school was built, which was then extended in both 1981 and 2000. The modern "Schule am Silahopp" is a primary and secondary school with a vocational focus that houses over 400 pupils. "Salzach-Gymnasium Maulbronn" takes in some 360 pupils. It is excellently located in the original premises built in 1890 in Stuttgarter Strasse and in the newer buildings erected in 1975 and 1994. The town is also well equipped with social and medical facilities: it boasts a number of spacious sports grounds and halls, a community centre in the building of the ducal granary in the monastery courtyard, modern nurseries, and sheltered housing for the elderly ("Begegnungsstaette Postscheuer"). The town has other service institutions, such as the "Kinderzentrum Maulbronn", a children's hospital well-known across Germany specialising in neurology and social paediatrics and with a large out-patient and teaching department. "Haus Tabor" nursing home also opened at the start of 2002. Maulbronn attracts a large number of visitors, with over 300,000 people from Germany and abroad coming every year to visit the monastery.