Romanesque
One of the, in the truest sense of the word, outstanding examples of
Romanesque architecture in Hirsau is the Owl's Tower (Eulenturm) from
the 12th century. Together with the south tower, it once formed the
western termination of the Church of St. Peter and Paul (Peter- und
Paulskirche). The more than 120 foot (37 meter) high tower is divided
into six floors, the uppermost of which have arcade windows. A frieze
of animal and human figures runs around three sides of the tower base.
Its symbolic content could not be deciphered up until now. The clear
separation of the individual parts of the church and the double tower
façade, which once also applied to the Monastery Church (Klosterkirche)
in Hirsau, is typical for the Romanesque period.
Gothic
From 1482 to 1493 the cloister with the well house was erected in the
Gothic style on the site of the preceding Romanesque building. The
cloister connected the convent buildings to each other and to the
Monastery Church. Elaborate tracery windows with colored glazing and
ribbed vaulting once adorned this monastic center. The larger window
openings typical for the Gothic period enabled the effect of the room
to be increased using the light that entered.
Renaissance
The representative hunting palace of the dukes of Württemberg was added
to the monastery complex from 1592. Its horizontally sectionalized
façade is crowned by impressive pediments. The Renaissance ideals of
symmetry and proportion also dominate this rigidly structured building.