House for sale • 1700 m² without real estateMarktplatz 6, , Bavaria

Rare Opportunity: Historic building complex in Baroque architecture, versatile and usable for various purposes—for example, as a group practice, beauty clinic, law office, studio, gallery, architectural firm, seminar center, yoga center, small hotel, restaurant with accommodations, senior residence, division into several residential units for rental or sale, or very spacious living for an extended family, etc.

Former monastery guesthouse currently featuring 16 guest rooms, one large hall of 230 m², six dining areas in different sizes, two kitchens, and one apartment. Built in 1750 in Baroque style, it boasts an impressive gate entrance framed by half-relief columns and Ionic capitals. The exterior walls are one meter thick.

Layout: 1,188.40 m² of living space plus an additional development reserve of approximately 686 m² in the attic, 300 m² of cross-vaulted basement (which would be ideal for a wine cellar restaurant, as the cellar has a separate entrance), plus 522.08 m² of usable space in two outbuildings over four floors, an inner courtyard, a sun terrace with about 40 seats, and an additional 30 m² of rented space, a boiler room, and a distillery. The property also includes a brewing and distilling right. There is on-site parking in front of the house as well as a garage in the outbuildings, plus additional free parking spaces for tour buses and private guests/patients/clients or visitors directly in front of the building on the market square. There is no requirement to pay a transfer fee. The 1,197.00 m² property, through the arrangement of the main building, banquet hall wing, and rear outbuilding, forms an idyllic, castle-courtyard-like enclosed inner courtyard.

Features: 16 guest rooms, with additional guest rooms or apartments possible to develop in the 686 m² of attic space over two floors; one lecture/conference hall with 230 m²; one large dining room; five additional dining rooms; two kitchens; one scullery; indoor toilets; outdoor toilets; three bathrooms; two separate staircases; four different entrances plus a separate entrance to the cellar. The building is under monument protection (ensemble protection) along with several historical features such as, for example, historic sandstone door frames, historic sandstone railings, 200-year-old oak parquet in the large dining room and the traditional meeting room, historic wall paneling in the second dining room, some door leaves from the period of construction, and some original stucco ceilings. The gate passage and the inner courtyard were paved with tar about 50 years ago, underneath which lies cobblestone pavement. The property carries a brewing and distilling right, which remains valid.

Location description: In the middle of the Steigerwald Nature Park in the state-recognized resort town of Ebrach. It is 12 km from the A3 motorway heading toward Würzburg. Ebrach is known beyond regional borders for its concerts, its magnificent Cistercian complex with a historic market square, baroque garden, abbey gardens, orangery, and the most significant church of early Gothic architecture in Germany. The tourist season operates year-round. The former monastery guesthouse is located directly on the market square with a view of the former bishop’s residence and, diagonally opposite, the Baroque church. It is surrounded by neighboring buildings in the same Baroque architectural style, arranged around the market square in a quadrangle, so that the entire downtown area dates from the same period and one feels transported back to the 18th century in this environment.

Condition of the building:

The exterior walls are made of one-meter-thick sandstone blocks.

The façade and roof of the main building were restored and renovated about 20 years ago. The attics of the two outbuildings were completely renewed about 8 years ago. For a thorough assessment of the building’s structural condition, wall and floor openings were made to examine the state of the supports, load-bearing structure, and masonry. The report concludes that the building is in solid condition, with no moisture, dry rot, or similar issues. The openings were intentionally left unclosed to allow interested parties to inspect the structure themselves.

Only the battens of the clay-tiled roof should be reinforced in some places, and the windows, heating, water, and electrical systems need to be renewed, as well as the interior of the main building being modernized. They reflect the last renovation state of the 1970s. However, this also offers the new owner the opportunity to implement their own design ideas and adapt the building immediately to future requirements under the Building Energy Act.

Funding opportunities:

In addition to subsidies for thermal insulation, new windows, and alternative heating technology as well as special depreciation for listed buildings, there is also further financial support available in Ebrach through the ongoing village renewal project of the Bavarian state government and Bavarian monument funding. The renovation area covers the entire inner district and thus also the property in question. Concretely, this means that for renovation work on the building or for the design of the inner courtyard within the framework of these village renewal measures, up to 30% of the incurred costs can be reimbursed from the village renewal funding pools.

The property is suitable as a hotel, a bed-and-breakfast style hotel, a seminar center, or a guesthouse with guest rooms, as a senior residence or a combination of several sectors, since a division is possible through the different entrances and separate staircases, as well as for spacious living for a family, or as a gallery, studio, cultural institution, large medical practice, beauty clinic, law office, planning office, architectural firm, or division into several residential units for rental or sale, etc. For leisure activities, residents as well as holiday guests in Ebrach currently have access to concerts, a museum, exhibitions, a natural swimming pool, hiking trails, cycle paths, campsites, ski touring trails, a treetop path, and the 2019-established network “Cisterscapes – Cistercian landscapes connecting Europe.” Cisterscapes connects 17 monastic landscapes in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovenia, thereby showcasing the cross-border cultural heritage of Cistercian-influenced landscapes.

The Cistercian order, which originated from the Benedictines, made important contributions to the dissemination of culture and technology in medieval Europe and financed abbeys in many European countries based on the principle of economic self-sufficiency. Through these abbeys, a cross-border culture was established through the exchange of knowledge and practices and a shared identity and narrative. The network of the Cistercians therefore has a historical pan-European character—it contributed to European history and integration and was awarded the Cultural Heritage Seal 2023 by the European Commission.

Currently, 17 partners from five European countries, including a number of active convents, belong to the network coordinated by the Bamberg district as part of the Ebrach monastic landscape. A trans-European “Cistercian Way” is planned as a long-distance hiking trail connecting the sites, comparable to the Camino de Santiago. Since Ebrach will play a central role in this, it would be extremely interesting for tourism or cultural use.