Rheinau Abbey (Kloster Rheinau) was 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 in Rheinau in the

canton of Zurich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

, Switzerland, founded in about 778 and suppressed in 1862. It is located on an island in the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

History

The foundation of the abbey, on a strategically sheltered bend of the Rhine, is supposed to have taken place in about 778. In the ninth century, the community number forty-three, about half of whom were ordained priests. St. Findan was from Ireland; after escaping Viking slavers, he lived at the abbey as a hermit for twenty-two years. In 1114 a Romanesque

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

was dedicated here and in 1120 the still extant archive begun. The early history of the abbey, like that of many others, consists of an alternation between generous endowments and privileges from the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

s, and oppression and fraud from the ''" Vögte"'' (lords protector). In 1126 Count Rudolf of

Lenzburg Lenzburg is a town in the central region of the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Aargau and is the capital of the Lenzburg District. The town, founded in the Middle Ages, lies in the Seetal, Seetal valley, about 3 kilometres south of the Aare river. L ...

founded the adjoining settlement of Rheinau. The abbey’s scriptorium flourished in the twelfth century. Against the increasingly aggressive territorial claims of the Counts of Sulz the abbey made a treaty in 1455 with 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 ...

, which was intended to protect it against further attacks by the noble families of the

Klettgau Klettgau (High Alemannic: ''Chleggau'') is a municipality in the district of Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the center of the ''Klettgau'' historical region stretching across the Swiss border into the cantons of Aargau, Schaffhaus ...

. In 1529 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 ...

swept in from

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and overwhelmed the abbey, which was abandoned shortly afterwards. It was re-established however in 1532, and became a centre of the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

. A

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

was built at the abbey by Daniel Hayl the elder in the years 1592-1594. In the 18th century under Abbot Gerold II Zurlauben, Rheinau Abbey, like St. Gallen, enjoyed a late resurgence. Abbot Gerold II Zurlauben had the monastic complex (in construction up to 1744) magnificently re-built 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 ...

style, much as they appear today. Franz Beer worked on the abbey church which was re-dedicated 1710.Curl, James Stevens and Wilson, Susan. "Beer Family", ''The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture'', OUP Oxford, 2015
During the turmoil of the French Revolution and the French invasion of Switzerland in 1798, the abbey was temporarily suspended, but restored in 1803. The abbey's territory with the little town of Rheinau were added to the newly restored Canton of Zürich, which placed it under cantonal supervision in 1834 and from 1836 prevented it from accepting new novices. In 1862 the cantonal council decreed the dissolution of the abbey. From 1603 until its dissolution the abbey was a member of the

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 ...

. loster Rheina

After dissolution

In 1867 in the abbey buildings a cantonal hospital and nursing home were set up. The later cantonal psychiatric clinic that developed here was closed in 2000, since then the buildings have stood empty.
Rheinau-Benediktinerabtei-04-2006-gje.jpg Rheinau-Benediktinerabtei-06-Westfassade-2006-gje.jpg Rheinau-Benediktinerabtei-10-Turm-2006-gje.jpg Rheinau-Benediktinerabtei-14-zum Chor-2006-gje.jpg Rheinau-Benediktinerabtei-18-zum Chor-2006-gje.jpg Rheinau-04-Holzbruecke-2006-gje.jpg

References

External links

Rheinau Abbey: history and pictures
{{Coord, 47, 38, 32, N, 8, 36, 30, E, region:CH-ZH_type:landmark, display=title Benedictine monasteries in Switzerland Buildings and structures in the canton of Zürich Churches in the canton of Zürich Islands of the Rhine River islands of Switzerland Christian monasteries established in the 8th century 8th-century establishments in Francia 1862 disestablishments in Switzerland Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Zurich Baroque church buildings in Switzerland 778 establishments Religious buildings and structures completed in the 770s