Salem is a municipality in the Bodensee district of Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

 in Southern Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, located 9 km north of Lake Constance

Lake Constance

Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...

, with a population of c. 11,000.

Culture and sights

The Cistercian monastery of Salem Abbey

Salem Abbey

Salem Abbey , also known as Salmansweiler and in Latin as Salomonis Villa, was a very prominent Cistercian monastery in Salem in the district of Bodensee about ten miles from Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-Abbey:The abbey was founded in 1136 by Gunthram of Adelsreute Salem Abbey (Kloster or...

 was founded in 1134 when the knight Guntram von Adelsreute donated land for its establishment. The abbey already had its own scriptorium

Scriptorium

Scriptorium, literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes...

 in the 12th century, and formed one of the most important monastery libraries in Europe.

Currently the grounds are home to the middle school campus of the boarding school Schule Schloss Salem

Schule Schloss Salem

Schule Schloss Salem is a boarding school with campuses in Hohenfels, Salem and Überlingen in Baden-Württemberg, Southern Germany. It is considered one of the most elite schools in Europe.It offers the German Abitur, as well as the International Baccalaureate...

, founded in 1920 by Kurt Hahn

Kurt Hahn

Kurt Martin Hahn was a German educator whose philosophies are considered internationally influential.-Biography:...

 and Prince Max of Baden. The abbey complex measures a total of 17 hectares.

Other sights include:

• Salem Minster, the former church of the abbey complex in gothic style.
• The Baroque
  Baroque
  The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
  
  chapel.