Pfäfers Abbey

Pfäfers Abbey Kloster Pfäfers
1408–1798
Coat of arms
Reichsfreiheit		←   1408
• Condominium of the     Old Swiss Confed.	→   1482–1798
• Annexed to Helvetic     Rep. canton of Linth	→ 11 November 1798
• Joined canton of     St. Gallen	→ 19 February 1803
Preceded by Succeeded by Holy Roman Empire Canton of Linth

Pfäfers Abbey (

Situated at the junction of the Tamina and Rhine valleys, it flourished as a religious house and owner of lands and serfs, as well as assuming extraordinary importance as a political and cultural centre of the Chur–Raetian region.

History

Middle Ages

According to the chronicles of

In 1665 a fire destroyed the medieval monastery and church.^[2] In 1672, Abbot Justus Zink presented plans by John Serro and Giuglio Barbieri for rebuilding the abbey, in the Baroque style, closer to the mountain slope, in the present dominant position, with the first rooms ready for occupation in 1674. Because of the disastrous financial situation, Abbot Zink was forced to resign in 1676, passing control to the Swiss Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. His successor, Abbot Boniface I Tschupp, managed the financial recovery and completed the construction in 1694, with the new abbey church dedicated in the same year.

18th century

The election of the abbot caused controversy in 1734 as

In 1794, a revolt of the monastery's subjects was crushed by the Vogt of Sargans. On 11 November 1798, during the French Revolutionary Wars, the county of Sargans was released by the Confederation and Abbot Benedict Bochsler had to free his subjects in a similar manner. After the French invasion, the monastery was abolished and partially destroyed. In 1801, the abbot returned with some brothers and, in 1803, the monastery was formally restored, after the founding of the canton of St. Gallen.^[2]

19th century

Financial struggles prompted the last abbot of the monastery Plazidus Pfister to request the secularization of the abbey, a request to which Pope Gregory XVI acceded in a letter dated 20 March 1838. On 20 November 1838, the Great Council of the canton of St Gallen declared that the monastery be secularised and removed its assets. The Catholic Church tried to claim the assets in vain, conceding them to St Gallen in November 1839. On 14 November 1845, in the buildings of the abbey was founded the cantonal asylum of St. Pirminsberg, today's St Pirminsberg Psychiatric Hospital. The precious artefacts from the abbey were auctioned and scattered in museums around the world. Konrad von Ritter from Wolfurt took possession of the famous Wolfurter cup (German: Wolfurter Kelch), created in the monastery in the 13th century. In 1853, the archives of the monastery were passed to Stiftsarchiv St Gallen, the archives of the Abbey of Saint Gall.

From 1619 to 1845 the bones of the archpriest Nicolò Rusca were kept in the Pfäfers monastery; he is currently nominated for beatification. Today these relics are in the Collegiate Church of Sondrio in Valtellina.

Sources

• Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz: Volume V, Neuchâtel, 1929. 414 pages.
• Paul Diebolder: Aus dem Kulturleben der Benediktiner-Abtei Pfäfers im Mittelalter und deren Beziehungen zu Liechtenstein, 1931
• Das Kloster Pfävers, edited by the St Gallen Historical Society, St. Gallen, 1883
• Die Abtei Pfäfers — Geschichte und Kultur, Stiftsarchiv St Gallen, 1983 and 1985.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pfäfers Abbey.

• (in German) Website of the St. Gallische Psychiatrie: Region Süd, with the Klinik St. Pirminsberg^{[permanent dead link]} — gives a very detailed history of the abbey
• Official website of the municipality of Pfäfers
• Pfäfers (Kloster) in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
• "Bibliography of W Vogler" (PDF) (in German). — lists many articles and other publications on Pfäfers Abbey

46°59′26″N 9°30′7.5″E / 46.99056°N 9.502083°E / 46.99056; 9.502083