Fischingen Abbey (Kloster Fischingen), now Fischingen Priory, is a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery situated in

Fischingen Fischingen is a municipality in the district of Münchwilen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History Fischingen is first mentioned in 1328 as ''Fischinon''. In 1972, Dussnang, Fischingen, Oberwangen and Tannegg merged with Fisching ...

in the

Canton of Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, on the upper reaches of the

Murg In enzymology, an undecaprenyldiphospho-muramoylpentapeptide beta-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction :UDP-N-acetylglucosamine + Mur2Ac(oyl-L-Ala-gamma-D-Glu-L-Lys-D-Ala-D-Ala)-diphosphoundecapreno ...

, a tributary of the Thur. It was founded in 1138, dissolved in 1848 and re-founded as a priory in 1977. __TOC__

History

The abbey was founded in 1138 by Ulrich II, Bishop of Constanz as a private episcopal monastery, with the intention that it should offer shelter and hospitality to pilgrims on their way from

Constanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city houses the Uni ...

Einsiedeln Abbey Einsiedeln Abbey () is a Catholic monastery administered by the Benedictine Order in the village of Einsiedeln, Switzerland. The Abbey of Einsiedeln is one of the most important baroque monastic sites and the largest place of pilgrimage in Swit ...

. The hermit Gebino was appointed the first abbot. In only six years he had had built a bell tower, accommodation for both monks and nuns, and a guesthouse. At its high point in about 1210, Fischingen had about 150 monks and 120 nuns. The ''"

Vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...

ei"'' (protective lordship) over the abbey belonged to the

Counts of Toggenburg The counts of Toggenburg (''Grafen von Toggenburg'') ruled the Toggenburg region of today's canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and adjacent areas during the 13th to 15th centuries. A baronial family of Toggenburg is mentioned in the 11th and 1 ...

. Saint Idda of Toggenburg, who lived in a cell of the abbey in about 1200, is buried in a chapel off the abbey church. From 1460 the abbey was under the authority of the administration of

Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...

in the

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...

. During the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, the abbey was dissolved for several years, when in 1526 the abbot and the four remaining monks converted to the

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

beliefs. The abbey was reopened however on the initiative of the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

townships of the

. In the 17th and 18th centuries the premises were rebuilt in the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

and

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

styles. Between 1685 and 1687 a new abbey church was constructed, and in 1705 a new chapel dedicated to Saint Idda. In the 18th century part of the monastic premises was rebuilt, but could not be completed because of the abbey's accumulated debts. Fischingen Abbey was dissolved on 27 June 1848 by the

Grand Council of Thurgau The Grand Council of Thurgau () is the legislature of the canton of Thurgau, in Switzerland. Thurgau has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 130 seats, with members elected every four years. The council has the unique feature in Swi ...

1852–1977: dissolution and abuse allegations

The abbey premises were sold in 1852 to a textile factory. Later a business and trade school was set up here. In 1879 the buildings were acquired by the Catholic voluntary society ''"Verein St. Iddazell"'', who established in them the St. Iddazell orphanage. During this time, several cases of abuse have been uncovered which include physical, sexual and psychological abuse during the 1950s up to the 1970s. A commission was installed, which produced a report in 2014 that largely confirmed the accusations and identified lack of oversight by the authorities as a major contributing factor to the abuse. The report also uncovered that students were used as test subjects for non-approved drugs without

informed consent Informed consent is an applied ethics principle that a person must have sufficient information and understanding before making decisions about accepting risk. Pertinent information may include risks and benefits of treatments, alternative treatme ...

and without proper approval by the authorities at the psychiatric hospital in Münsterlingen, experiments which were led by

Roland Kuhn Roland Kuhn (4 March 1912 – 10 October 2005) was a Swiss psychiatrist who discovered that the drug imipramine had antidepressant properties. he was born in Biel and died in Scherzingen. In 1957, Kuhn published the results of his observations of ...

.Simone Rau
''Das Ausmass der Medi-Versuche in Münsterlingen ist weit grösser.''
In: ''

Der Bund ''Der Bund'' (English: ''The Union'') is a Switzerland, Swiss German-language daily newspaper published in Bern. Established in 1850 and associated with the cause of Classical liberalism, liberalism, it was among the leading quality newspaper ...

'', 31. Oktober 2016. The canton of Thurgau issued an official apology for the abuse in 2014. After the repeal in 1973 of the so-called "Article of exception" (''"Ausnahmeartikel"'') in the Swiss constitution, which forbade the opening of new monasteries and the re-establishment of old ones, Fischingen was reopened as an independent priory in its former premises in 1977. In 1602 Fischingen joined the then newly established

Swiss Congregation The Swiss Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation is a grouping of Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine monasteries in Switzerland or with significant historical Swiss connections. Foundation The congregation was founded, at the urging of t ...

, now part of the

Benedictine Confederation The Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict () is the international governing body of the Order of Saint Benedict. Origin The Benedictine Confederation is a union of monastic congregations that nevertheless retain their own aut ...

, and re-joined on its re-foundation in 1977.

Today

Several Benedictine monks now reside again in the main building, which is also a hotel which specialises in seminars. Guided tours are available for the main building, a restaurant is also open to non-residents. A unique feature in the church is an ancient stone sarcophagus with small opening in base into which the faithful put their feet while making peace with their Maker. In 2015, the abbey added a brewery (Brauerei Kloster Fischingen), located in an outbuilding. Their bottled ales are available in the restaurant.

References

External links

Fischingen Abbey website
*
Photo of monastic buildings
{{Authority control Benedictine monasteries in Switzerland Buildings and structures in Thurgau 1138 establishments in Europe 1848 disestablishments in Switzerland Christian organizations established in 1977 Christian monasteries established in the 1130s Tourist attractions in Thurgau 1977 establishments in Switzerland 1130s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire