Salem is a small town, the history of which for centuries was associated with the Cistercian abbey. It has survived to this day as a baroque building complex with a Romanesque-Gothic monastery church.
The first settlement on the site of Salem was established in the 3rd century AD. In the following centuries it developed mainly as a local trade center. It was not until the 12th century that the change came with the foundation of the Cistercian monastery, which was quickly promoted to the group of so-called imperial monasteries, surrounded by special considerations by the ruler.
A Romanesque-Gothic church has survived from the original monastery building complex, the interior of which was decorated in the 18th century with new late-Baroque altars and sculptures. Contrary to other works from this period, they are made of a single stone with a very sparing use of gilding, which makes it a perfect complement to the austere, medieval interior. Next to the church, there is a complex of monastery buildings from the end of the 17th and 18th centuries, when the abbey was rebuilt after the destruction of the Thirty Years' War. Today they are the seat of the school.
There is a baroque garden park next to the monastery. However, a little further away you can find the Park Schloßsee Salem with a large lake and recreational areas. On the outskirts of the city there is a big attraction which is Affenberg Salem. It is a game park where mainly great apes are bred in conditions similar to natural.
