The Abbey Church of Otterberg was founded in 1143 by Cistercians as the abbey church of a daughter abbey of the Eberbach monastery. In the 15th century, the monastery slowly declined. In 1504, and in 1525 during the Peasants' War, the monastery was burned and plundered. At the end of the 16th century, the abbey church began to be used simultaneously by the Catholic and Protestant parishes, but not without causing disputes. In 1708, therefore, a separation wall was built between the two spaces. The choir hall with the transept is now used as the Catholic part, the remaining nave as the Protestant part. In 1979, the wall was removed as part of a major renovation, but the structure of the property was not changed.
References:The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.