The Wettingen Monastery and Museum
14 February 2022
The Monastery of Wettingen (Canton of Aargau) dates back to the 13th century. The Cistercian monastery was founded in 1227 by Count Heinrich II of Rapperswil. The convent on the half-island had estates, gardens and vineyards. Together with the former monastery Fahr, it was the largest landowner and economic power in the Limmattal.
A fire destroyed the monastery in 1507. The greatest danger, however, was the Reformation in 1529. Most monks converted to the new faith and left the monastery.
The new abbot, Peter Schmid (1559-1633), appointed in 1594, successfully restored the monastery to its former glory. He renovated old buildings and constructed many new ones. Until the French invasion of the Swiss Confederation in 1798, the monastery experienced a period of prosperity again in the predominantly Protestant Aargau.
The area that is today’s Canton of Aargau (founded in 1803 by Napoleon’s Mediation Act) was governed from 1415 to 1798 by the Catholic and Protestant members of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the Eidgenossenschaft. This cooperation and the possibility of choosing one’s religion were already unique in Europe until 1798.
In 1799, the monastery was located in a war zone and was forced to accommodate officers and soldiers from the French, Austrian, and Russian armies.
After the foundation of the new Confederation in 1815 (by the Bundesbrief), the mood towards the (rich) monasteries worsened in the canton. Aarau’s parliament (Grosser Rat) decided in 1841 to dissolve the monasteries. The Cistercian monks of Wettingen found a new home in Mehrerau, near Bregenz, Austria.
The monastery buildings were used for a teachers’ seminary. In 1976, the cantonal school was founded. From 1 April 2022, the Aargau Museum will open rooms for temporary exhibitions in the monastery complex.
(Source and further information: www.museumaargau.ch/klosterhalbinsel-wettingen)
The current bridges over the Limmat from Neuenhof to Wettingen
The Grubenmann-Bridge in 1795. Collection: SNM LM-81832
The original bridge, built in 1765, was destroyed in 1798. However, its reputation reached as far as England (report from 1789)! The new wooden bridge of 1818 and the iron bridge (1886) were the replacements.
