Franziskanerkloster Amberg

The monastery, dedicated to Saint Bernardino of Siena, was founded in 1452 by Saint John of Capistrano with the support of the city of Amberg. A citizen named Johannes Pachmann provided the necessary land, which was then transferred to the Franciscans of the Strasbourg Province. Construction of the monastery progressed rapidly, requiring an extension as early as 1455. In the 1530s, Lutheran doctrine took root in Amberg, leading to tensions with the Franciscan order. Despite resistance from the friars, the city increasingly fell under Protestant influence. By 1553, only the monastery church of St. Bernardin remained for Catholics. As the order relied on alms, it could not sustain itself in the Lutheran environment. In 1544, Provincial Wendelin Fabri handed over the convent to Elector Frederick II, and the last friars left the monastery in 1555. Under Elector Frederick III, a Calvinist 'Pädagogium' (educational institution) was established in the former monastery, which changed its confessional orientation multiple times under his successors. In 1598, it was established as a normal school. Following Maximilian I's victory in the Thirty Years' War, the Upper Palatinate came under the Catholic Wittelsbach line. At the Elector's request, the Amberg convent was re-established in 1624 by Pope Urban VIII and placed under the Bavarian Reformist Province. From 1626, Franciscans again settled there, dedicating themselves intensively to the re-Catholicization. The monastery was dissolved in 1802 during secularization. The monastery complex was acquired in 1803 by the Bruckmüller family, who established a brewery there. The former monastery church now houses the Amberg City Theater.

The former Franciscan Monastery is located in the city of Amberg, situated in Bavaria, Germany.

The historic monastery complex is now used in various ways. A brewery is housed in the former monastery buildings, while the former monastery church serves as the Amberg City Theater.

• City fortification Amberg-Vilstor (City fortification, approx. 128 m away)
• Fenzl-Haus (Residence, approx. 161 m away)
• Alte Veste Amberg (Castle, approx. 247 m away)
• Altes Pfalzgrafenschloß (Castle, approx. 286 m away)