Königsfelden Monastery

Geschichte

Königsfelden Monastery is a former Franciscan double monastery, which housed both a community of Poor Clare nuns and one of Franciscan friars, living in separate wings, in the municipality of Windisch in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It was founded in 1308 by the Habsburgs. In the course of the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland in 1528 it was secularized, and the complex was then the residence of the bailiffs of Bern.Since 1868 the former monastic buildings have served as a psychiatric clinic. The monastery church was converted into a museum in 2009. It contains a set of 14th-century stained glass windows which, together with the windows in the Cathedral of Bern, are considered the most valuable in Switzerland.HistoryOn May 1, 1308, King Albert I of Austria was murdered by his nephew John Parricida in the community of Windisch. In memory of this event his widow, Elizabeth of Carinthia, founded the monastery about 1310-11 at the site, approximately 200m from Brugg. The monastic complex centered around the contemplative life of the nuns, while the small community of friars tended to both their spiritual needs and that of the surrounding community.

"Seit 700 Jahren erstrahlt in Windisch das Kloster Königsfelden mit seinen europaweit bekannten farbigen Glasfenstern. Die Kirche und das Doppelkloster waren einst Erinnerungsort an den römisch-deutschen König Albrecht I., der 1308 ermordet wurde. Heute ist die Kloster- und Kirchengeschichte über einen audiovisuellen Guide zugänglich und zahlreiche Führungen geben vertiefte Einblicke in die Geschichte. Das Kloster Königsfelden ist Veranstaltungsort des jährlich wiederkehrenden Tanzfestivals "tanz & kunst königsfelden", das weit über die Landesgrenzen hinaus bekannt ist."