The master builder Lorenzo de Sale was commissioned by Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden to design the Franciscan monastery church in Rastatt. The design is attributed to the court architect Domenico Egidio Rossi.
The War of the Spanish Succession prevented rapid construction after the foundation stone was laid in 1702. As a result, the church was not consecrated to the Immaculate Conception of Mary until 1717. in 1805, the monastery was nationalized and the inventory was auctioned off. The monastery church has been a Protestant parish church since 1807.
The monastery buildings with the cloister were used by both the Oberamt and later the Rastatt District Office as official buildings. Today, the Pestalozzi School in Rastatt is housed there.
Children discover Rastatt:
Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm appointed the Franciscan monks from the Fremersberg monastery in Baden-Baden as pastors for the town.
A monastery with its own church was built for them. Jesuits and Piarists - who were also monks - were responsible for schooling in the new residence. The margrave's Protestant personal physician, Dr. Göckel, was always treated with hostility by the Catholic clergy because he had a different religion. High taxes were also demanded from the Jews in Rastatt, especially after the margrave's death in 1707. Anyone unwilling or unable to pay was threatened with expulsion from Rastatt.
A particular burden for the Jewish inhabitants was the payment of so-called paving money. These revenues were used to pave the streets and sidewalks in Rastatt. Later, the Jews were forbidden to hold their own church services in the town center. After the dissolution of the churches and monasteries in 1805, the church was used as a hay and straw store during the occupation by French troops.
