Langenbruck, Monastery and Sculpture Park Schönthal

8 April 2026

The exact date of the founding of the former Benedictine Monastery Schönthal in the village of Langenbrück (Canton Basel-Landschaft) is unknown. However, a document from 1146 confirms that the founder was Count Adalbero of Froburg. The contours of the monastery are well preserved, particularly the famous Romanesque portal.

The consecration of the monastery church took place in 1187. In 1367, the Froburg dynasty ceased to exist, and the right to supervise the monastery passed to Basel in 1400. In 1525, the monastery was plundered and destroyed by local peasants, perhaps inspired by the peasant revolt in Germany.

The monastery was dissolved as a result of the Reformation in Basel in 1529. The church and monastery buildings were used as brick-kiln factories and storehouses for centuries.

The canton Basel-Landschaft was founded in 1833. The former monastery was sold to a private owner by the canton of Basel-Landschaft a few years later. The canton placed the monastery church under cantonal monument protection in 1967.

The Schönthal Sculpture Park

The Schönthal Sculpture Park opened in 2000 and is managed by the Kloster Schönthal Association (Verein). International and Swiss artists produced site-specific sculptures for the meadows and woods of the beautiful Jura landscape around the Monastery of Schönthal in Langenbrück (Kanton of Basel-Landschaft). They shaped a cultural environment spanning more than 100 hectares.

Having first familiarised themselves with the monastery, its almost-thousand-year history, and the landscape, more than 23 artists have, to date, created around 35 sculptures. The gradual development of the collection makes it a work in progress.

(Source and further information: www.schoenthal.ch).

Langenbruck

Impressions from the landscape and the Hauenstein Fortification

The Kretenweg

The Lauchflue (Panzertümli)