The Old Abbey
A headquarters steeped in history
Situated in a park on the banks of the Saar River, the Old Abbey has become a symbol of the company’s rich history and tradition. Visitors to Mettlach from around the world are drawn to look up and admire this remarkable work of architecture. Formerly an 18th-century Benedictine Abbey, the historic building now houses the central administration team and Management Board of Villeroy & Boch.
From Benedictine Abbey to International Headquarters
The famous Saxony architect Christian Kretzschmar created the design for the Benedictine cloister. Construction began in 1727, but wasn’t completed until the second half of the 18th century. After the nation was secularized in 1802, the building became property of the state and was eventually acquired, renovated, and partly converted into a factory by Jean François Boch.
A hidden history
There remains a piece of Villeroy & Boch history concealed in almost every corner of the Old Abbey. For example, the floors of the cloister are laid out with high-quality and elaborately decorated 19th century Mettlach tiles. The entrance to the Museum of Ceramics holds a restored “carpet of tiles,” which once adorned an old villa in Merzig and was discovered and saved by a sanitaryware employee during excavation.
The Old Abbey today
Today, in addition to the central administration of Villeroy & Boch, the Old Abbey is home to many exciting tourist destinations, including the Museum of Ceramics with the Museum Café, the Keravision exhibition, the Tableware Discovery Center and the Information Center – the specialist showroom for dream bathrooms and home interiors. For this reason, the former cloister building plays an important role in industrial tourism in the lower Saar region.
