Franciscan Abbey, Rothenburg ob der Tauber

The monastery was founded in 1281 by Hermann von Hornburg and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It belonged to the Upper German (Strasbourg) Province of Argentina of the Franciscan Order. The monastery church, still preserved today, was built as early as 1282. Following the division of the Franciscan Order in 1517, the monastery joined the Franciscan Conventuals (Minorites), who practiced a less strict form of the vow of poverty. Around 1400, a community of Franciscan Tertiaries also lived in the monastery for a time before receiving their own brother house, which continued to be pastorally cared for by the Franciscan monastery. The Minorite monastery ceased to exist in 1548 during the Reformation. The former monastery buildings subsequently served various purposes, including a Latin school, housing for pastors' widows, and after 1805, a salt warehouse. Parts of the complex, such as the cloister and refectory, were demolished, and much of the inventory was lost or sold.

The Franciscan Church is located in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Germany, at an elevation of approximately 419 meters above sea level.

Today, the church is an Evangelical Lutheran parish church and a protected architectural monument. Its three-aisled nave with a flat ceiling and the high, elongated choir with a ribbed vault define its architectural appearance. Particularly noteworthy is the rood screen, which not only separated the areas for laypeople and monks but was repurposed as a gallery after the Reformation, thus preserving the original spatial layout of the 14th century. It now houses a small organ. The St. Francis Altar, dating from around 1480/1490, is considered the most significant work of art in the current interior.

• Old Town Fortifications Rothenburg-Burgtor (town fortifications, approx. 115 m away)
• St. James's Town Church (sacred building, approx. 161 m away)
• Johanniterballei (sacred building, approx. 242 m away)
• Reichsburg (castle, approx. 324 m away)