Königsfelden Monastery

Königsfelden is a former monastery of the Poor Clares and Franciscan in the municipality of Windisch in the Swiss canton of Aargau. It was founded in 1309 by the Habsburgs and secularized after the Reformation in 1528. The complex was then the residence of the Bernese bailiffs, since 1868, here is a Psychiatric Hospital. The church belongs since 2009 to the Museum Aargau. Famous for its Königsfelden is derived from the 14th century stained glass cycle, who, along with the choir glazing of the Bern Cathedral as the most important in Switzerland.

History

The construction of the monastery, on the initiative of the Habsburgs, whose headquarters is located about two kilometers southwest of Windisch. On May 1, 1308 was King Albrecht I, near the Reuss transfer in Windisch by his nephew, Duke John had been murdered by Schwaben. To commemorate this family tragedy, the King Widow Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol donated a Poor Clare Monastery, which was called Königsfelden. From the beginning the Klarissenkloster a small Franciscan convent was attached, who was responsible for the pastoral care. The first monks moved in 1311, the nuns followed the following year.

Albrecht's daughter Agnes of Hungary, the Hungarian King Andrew III died 1301. Widow, lived from 1317 in Königsfelden. Thanks to extensive land purchases and economic skill she led the monastery to flourish. On August 22, 1344 issued their Pope Clement VI. the privilege of the monastery as often as they wanted to visit and build a house to the monastery. 1397 gave the Habsburg dukes the cloister a Eigenamt with any related rule rights. After her death in 1364 began a gradual decline.

With the conquest of the western Aargau through the city and Republic of Berne the connection was lost to StifterHaus. After the introduction of the Reformation in 1528 the monastery was dissolved. The complex has undergone numerous renovations and served as the official seat of the Bernese bailiffs of the Office Königsfelden. A steward took over the administration of the former monastic estates. 1804 came the former monastery in the possession of the previously founded in Canton Aargau. From 1868 to 1872 it was converted to the cantonal medical and nursing home, a psychiatric clinic. Here, a large part of the Franciscan convent was demolished.

Abbesses

• To 1313 Hedwiga of Kuntzlau
• 1318-1324 Guta of Bachstein
• 1329 Benigna of Bachstein
• To 1330-1340 Agnes von Brandis? ( Agnes of Hungary, as is generally accepted, it can not have been because they never joined the Order after Gerbert and took the veil ). It is possible that the abbess of the monastery at Säckingen ladies was at times also Abbess of the ladies pin Königsfelden. At the same time, namely, was Agnes von Brandis, Abbess of Säckingen. As its predecessor is called there to 1330 Adelheit of Uhlingen.
• To 1334 Adelheid I.
• 1355 Elizabeth I of Leiningen? ( Liebenau sees it as a confusion of the year 1455 )
• To 1371 Anna I. Goldberg
• 1405 Adelheid II von Hallwyl
• 1406-1408 Margaret I of wax rings
• 1411-1415 Margaretha II of Green Mountain
• 1416-1456 Elizabeth II of Leiningen
• To 1456 Ursula von Mirlingen
• 1459 Eve of Erpach
• To 1471 Osanna hunters
• 1497-1506 Anna II of stone
• 1511-1513 Emerita lollipops
• 1516-1528 Katherina von Waldburg

Clinic directors

Building

Worth seeing are the former monastery park and especially the church. Preserved by the extensive grounds are the archive and the treasure vault of the Franciscan monastery, the Bernese Hofmeisterei in late Gothic style with Renaissance portal and parts of the former Poor Clares.

The monastery church was built in 1310-1330 and is one of the major works of the mendicant in Switzerland. After the Bernese bailiffs had temporarily diverted the nave of the abbey church as a grain warehouse, the construction of 1891/93 has been restored. In re- restoration work in the years 1983/86 including the rood screen was reconstructed between nave and choir. In the nave is a marble cenotaph, including the former vault, which served as the Habsburg family vault until 1770.

Glass window

Description

Probably the 1330-1340 created, largely original stained-glass painting cycle in the choir, one of the major achievements of European stained glass of the Gothic. A documentary elusive workshop with stylistic influences from the Alsace and the Lake Constance area was the creator of the outstanding works of art (see also: Master of Königsfelden ). Founder of the stained glass windows were the relatives of the murdered German King Albrecht 1308. The representations of the donors are still partially present in the chancel windows and attest to the importance Königsfeldens for the House of Habsburg.

The image of the windows program is, despite some losses on the south, remained almost completely intact. In the choir apex the Passion of Christ is shown flanked by windows overlooking the incarnation of Christ and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The next window shows the pair precursor John the Baptist (along with St. Catherine ) and the successor to Paul (along with Mary). The third pair of windows is dedicated to the apostles. The following two pairs of windows are dedicated to saints, to which the Order or the founding family had a special relationship: Francis, Nicholas, Anna and Klara. In addition to the choir and the nave of the former monastery church contains significant remains of an ornamental glazing as well as a dynastic cycle with members of the Habsburg dynasty from four centuries.

Restorations

After the dissolution of the monastery began the gradual disintegration of the stained glass. Among other things, due to weather conditions and vandalism lost parts of their original window glazing. In the 17th and 18th century was filled the gaps in the choir with stained glass from the nave windows, which had become expendable in a grain house after the renovation of the nave. Between 1896 and 1900, the stained glass have been extensively updated and supplemented by the Zurich glass painter Richard Arthur Nüscheler. Main objective of this restoration, it was the original concept of the choir windows, as far as possible to restore. All windows have been re- leaded and newly created characters missing in the resulting image fields. In the windows on the south side of the choir, which had lost most of their original fields, only the original composition was reconstructed and largely dispensed with pictorial supplements.

The restoration Nüschelers was, according to the spirit of the times, in the style of historicism. Unlike today, where it is trying to get the corpus of Your aim was to establish a presumed original condition, even if it has so maybe never existed for the restorers of historicism. The sometimes deep interventions Nüschelers in the original substance disturb and distort today parts of the stained glass of Königsfelden. Another example of this restoration practice are the stained glass windows of the Cathedral of Freiburg, which were changed irreparably in a similar manner. In the recent restoration of the windows in the years 1987-2002 is respected as far as possible the state that Richard Arthur Nüscheler had created in 1900.

John and Catherine window, Incarnation and Passion window

Habsburg family vault, black Marmorkenotaph, 1320

Habsburg vault

Monastery church, exterior from south

Monastery Church, south side