Wiblingen Abbey Library ~Neu-Ulm, Deutschland

In the outskirts of Ulm, Germany, there sits an old Benedictine abbey. 

Though it isn't much to look at from the outside, I will go ahead and state that the inside holds one of the most beautiful things I have seen, to date, within the entire country of Germany:

The Wiblingen Abbey Library.

 I'm not going to lie, the library is the only reason I visited the abbey in Wiblingen (part of Stadt Ulm).

Yeah, some people will say that the entire abbey is beautiful, and worth walking the grounds, etc, but I'm not going to sell anyone here on anything else. 

The library IS the jewel of this place. 
That is all.
End of pitch.

We paid our entrance fees, acquired a photo permit and an audio guide, and we were on our way; weaving through a small museum with interesting old books in glass cases. Some of them were neato, but there wasn't much for us to comprehend. The audio guided portion of the tour didn't start until we hit the library, which is at the end of the entire tour.

Reminds me of "Book" in Hocus Pocus.

When I approached the library entrance, I held my breath. 
I was super excited to see this place. 
Years ago, before I knew I would ever move to Germany, I had seen photos of this library on Pinterest; saving it to my "Someday, someway" secret board.

And there I was, finally crossing the threshold. It's was a pretty awesome feeling.

I'm a crazy reader. Love, love, love to read. 
As cliche as it is, reading helped me escape reality during childhood. 
My life hasn't always been rainbows and fairy tales...or castles abroad.

Libraries have held a special place in my heart because of my childhood and love for reading, so I'll take any chance I get to visit a Rococo library. Why not? 

I walked through the door, and it was love at first sight. 
Simply gorgeous. 
Words and pictures do not do this library justice.

It has been said that this library has ties to the Illuminati, if that stuff is your thing. 

Can you imagine why while looking through photos?

Every square foot of this library is beautiful. I spent about forty minutes inside, mostly looking up. My neck was a bit sore by the end of my visit!

The second floor is off limits to tourists, which leaves me wonder why. Maybe there is a special book in this place that we're not supposed to know about?!

The books on the first floor are protected by a industrial grade version of chicken wire. Definitely not a 'working' library. There isn't a librarian, nor a check-out counter. 

That ceiling, though!!!



We exited the tour, snapped a few pictures outside of the abbey's front facade, and then we hopped in the car to drive home.

We appear to look 'thrilled', but the sun was in our eyes!

I can't write much about the library's history because most of the information relates to the monastery as a whole, not specifically the library within it. Sorry, but I did take a load of photos. You're welcome.
The drive to the abbey is about 2 1/2 hours from our house, one way, but it was worth every minute. 
Grateful and appreciative to finally cross this amazing place off of my "Must See" list!


Next stop: Some famous outdoor landmarks of Bavaria.

Tired of reading about our Deutschland travels? No worries. April will kick off our 'out of country' travel season. Pretty darn excited to cross the borders and see new scenery {and countries} soon!