Mosbach Abbey

Stiftskirche St. Juliana stands in the centre of Mosbach, a town in the Odenwald hills of Baden-Württemberg. The church replaced an earlier abbey church in 1308 and has served both Protestant and Catholic congregations since 1707. Emperor Otto II granted the abbey to Worms Cathedral chapter in 976, and it became an independent house again in 1268. In 1556 the Elector Palatine Otto-Heinrich turned the church into a Protestant parish church and dissolved the abbey in 1564. Almost nothing of the abbey remains except the church itself. The building’s shared use as a simultaneum began in 1707, with Protestants worshipping in the nave and Catholics in the chancel. In 2007 the two parishes opened the separation wall, installing gates and steps that now link the two sides. The Roman Catholic congregation belongs to the Archdiocese of Freiburg, while the United Protestant Church in Baden oversees the Protestant side. The agreement marked the 300th anniversary of the partition. Inside, visitors find a single building divided by a wall that once kept the congregations apart. The Protestant nave and Catholic chancel remain distinct, yet the new passage allows them to share the space more openly. The church’s long history is visible in its architecture, from the 14th-century construction to the 18th-century alterations for dual worship. Outside, the friary garden has been replanted as a herb garden linked to the town’s annual Herb Market.