The Fraumünster (; lit. in en, Women's Minster, but often wrongly translated to urLady Minster) is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

which was built on the remains of a former abbey for aristocratic women which was founded in 853 by

Louis the German Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the P ...

for his daughter Hildegard. He endowed the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

convent with the lands of Zürich, Uri, and the Albis forest, and granted the convent immunity, placing it under his direct authority. Today, it belongs to the

Evangelical Reformed Church of the canton of Zürich The Evangelical-Reformed Church of the Canton of Zürich is a Reformed State Church in Zürich. In 2004 it had 533,000 members and 179 parishes with 900 house fellowships and 520 ordained clergy. Official language is German. It is a member of the ...

and is one of the four main churches of

, the others being the Grossmünster, Prediger and

St. Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

's churches.

History

In 1045, King Henry III granted the convent the right to hold markets, collect tolls, and mint coins, and thus effectively made the abbess the ruler of the city. Emperor Frederick II granted the abbey '' Reichsunmittelbarkeit'' in 1218, thus making it territorially independent of all authority save that of the Emperor himself, and increasing the political power of the abbess. The abbess assigned the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

, and she frequently delegated the minting of coins to citizens of the city. A famous abbess during this time of great power was Elisabeth of Wetzikon. However, the political power of the convent slowly waned in the fourteenth century, beginning with the establishment of the ''Zunftordnung'' (

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometim ...

laws) in 1336 by

Rudolf Brun Rudolf Brun (1290s – 17 September 1360) was the leader of the Zürich guilds' revolution of 1336, and the city's first independent mayor. Since 1234, Zürich had been governed by an aristocratic council. One third of the council's members w ...

, who also became the first independent mayor, i.e. not assigned by the abbess. The abbey was dissolved on 30 November 1524 in the course of the

reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

Huldrych Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Univ ...

, supported by the last abbess,

Katharina von Zimmern Katharina von Zimmern (1478 – 17 August 1547), also known as the imperial abbess of Zürich and Katharina von Reischach, was the last abbess of the Fraumünster Abbey in Zürich. Early life Katharina von Zimmern was born in 1478 in the ...

. The monastery buildings were destroyed in 1898 to make room for the new Stadthaus. The church building today serves as the parish church for one of the city's 34 reformed parishes. Münsterhof, historically the main square and marketplace of the medieval city, is named for the abbey. Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster cultivates the traditions of the former nunnery convent.

Chagall windows

The choir of the abbey includes 5 large stained glass windows designed by artist

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...

and installed in 1970. Each of the 5 has a dominant color and depicts a Biblical story. From left (northern wall) to right, the 5 works are: * Prophets, depicting Elijah's ascent to heaven * Jacob, displaying his combat, and dreams of heaven * Christ, illustrating various scenes of Christ's life * Zion, showing an angel trumpeting the end of the world * Law, with Moses looking down upon the suffering of his people Equally impressive is the 9m tall stained glass of the North transept, created by

Augusto Giacometti Augusto Giacometti (16 August 1877 – 9 June 1947) was a Swiss painter from Stampa, Graubünden, cousin of Giovanni Giacometti who was the father of Alberto, Diego and Bruno Giacometti. He was a prominent as a painter in the Art Nouvea ...

in 1940.

Fraumünster's Crypt museum

Since the last renovation in 1900, the

crypt A crypt (from Latin '' crypta'' " vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a c ...

under the choir of the Fraumünster abbey was sealed, and has made public since 19 June 2016. The oldest part of the church preserved the abbey's Holy Relics until the

Reformation in Zürich The Reformation in Zürich was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrates of the city of Zürich and the princess abbess Katharina von Zimmern of the Fraumünster Abbey, and the population of the city of Zü ...

banned the Roman Catholic adoration of saints. The foundations of the crypt date back to the 9th century when the abbey was founded. The crypt also comprises an exhibition on the history of the

, on the architecture and local history, assisted by a multimedia information system that illustrates the foundation fragments of the crypt, and how the church was rebuilt from the original Romanesque construction phase to its present Gothic appearance, on occasion of its establishment guided by

Dölf Wild Dölf Wild (born 1954) is a Swiss historian, archaeologist and science writer, and works as the chief archaeologist of the city of Zürich. He is best known for his research into the building industry of medieval Zürich and for his contribution ...

, the archaeologist in charge.

Facilities

For the around 500,000 visitors every year a new developed visitor management started in June 2016. Visitors groups up to 60 persons are admitted from June 20 only by appointment and only in defined time windows. Guided tours are allowed only in a "whisper" modus, and by accredited tour guides, from 10 am to 4 pm in winter, and to 5 pm and 6 pm in spring respectively summer.

The organ

With 6.959 pipes, the organ at Fraumünster is the largest in the canton of Zurich.

Gallery

File:Fraumünster tower.jpg, Fraumünster church tower File:Zürich - Fraumünster - Poststrasse IMG 6215 ShiftN.jpg, Fraumünster as seen from ''Poststrasse'' towards

Paradeplatz Paradeplatz is a square on Bahnhofstrasse in downtown Zürich, Switzerland. It is one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in Switzerland and has become synonymous with wealth and the Swiss banks, being the location of the headquarters ...

File:Zürich - Fraumünster - Münsterhof - Zunfthaus zur Meisen - Sicht vom Grossmünster Karlsturm IMG 6390.JPG, Fraumünster, Münsterhof and Zunfthaus zur Meisen as seen from Grossmünster File:Zürich - Fraumünster - Kreuzgang IMG 1158 ShiftN.jpg,

Fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

Paul Bodmer Paul Bodmer (1886–1983) was a Swiss painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, bu ...

in Fraumünster's former cloister File:Fraumünster - Kreuzgang - Boder-Freso Felix-Regula-Exuperantius 2011-06-15 13-01-32.jpg, Zürich's saints on a fresco by Paul Bodmer: Exuperantius,

Felix and Regula Felix and Regula are Coptic Orthodox and Roman Catholic saints, together with their servant Exuperantius, and are the patron saints of Zürich, their feast day being 11 September in the Gregorian calendar, celebrated on the same day using th ...

File:Fraumünster - Kreuzgang - Paul Bodmer 2010-08-28 19-05-48 ShiftN.jpg,

by Paul Bodmer in former cloister

Abbesses

* Hildegard (828-856 or 859), first abbess of Fraumünster Abbey *

(1478-1547), last abbess of the Abbey

Cultural heritage of national importance

In the

Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance #REDIRECT Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance {{R from other capitalisation ...

the Fraumünster is listed as a ''Class A'' object of national importance.

Literature

* Peter Vogelsanger: ''Zürich und sein Fraumünster. Eine elfhundertjährige Geschichte (853–1956)''. NZZ Libro, Zürich 1994,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraumunster Benedictine monasteries in Switzerland Benedictine nunneries in Switzerland Museums in Zürich Archaeological museums in Switzerland Archaeological sites in Switzerland History of Zürich Reformed churches in Zürich Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Zürich Christian monasteries established in the 9th century 9th-century establishments in Switzerland Gothic architecture in Switzerland Religious buildings and structures completed in 853