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Building Number 20 in the printed brochure
"Historic Buildings in Münchberg".

The sign is on the right side next to the entrance door.

How the Seven Brothers House and the Monastery Square (Klosterplatz) came by their names is not clearly explained. The legends about the monastery and the spiritual brothers who were supposed to have resided here are not provable. In spite of great doubt about them, these names were adopted for the two historical places. An additional myth says that the name “Münchberg” (similar to Mönchsberg, engl.: monks hill) was originally derived from the monks who were active here.

In 1451 a Hospital for incurables (hospice) was mentioned for the first time. Also, it is assumed that it must have already existed. In the Middle Ages they built similar houses for lepers and victims of the plague outside the city in order to care for those with leprosy. Also in Münchberg the hospital stood directly in front of the upper city gate beyond the city moat (city view above). Older men who were without dependents and responsibilities could spend their old age in the infirmary. They were therefore called “Hospital brothers”. The expression “Brother house” could have been derived from that. In 1472 a “Brotherhood angel mass of our dear Lord’s Corpus Christi Day” was mentioned, which likewise could also be a reason for the house’s designation. There was probably never a monastery or monks in Münchberg, but the church owned an infirmary, so at least the clergy were active here.
In 1790 the hospital was sold and torn down. The city councilor Johann Jakob Dietsch built the current two-story apartment house in the same spot that same year.