St. John's Abbey in the Thurtal

Last updated

St. John's Abbey in the Thurtal (German : Kloster St. Johann im Thurtal) was a Benedictine monastery originally established in Alt St. Johann in the Canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, in the mid-12th century. [1]

Contents

former priory and church Alt St. Johann Kloster Alt.St. Johann.jpg
former priory and church Alt St. Johann

The oldest written record of it is dated 4 October 1152, when Pope Eugene III took the monastery into his protection. The pope confirmed the monastery's possessions and free election of its abbot and Vogt .

On 24 October 1178 Pope Alexander III confirmed the abbey's extended possessions.

In 1227/1228, the king became Vogt of the abbey. In December 1231, Emperor Frederick II issued a Golden Bull confirming his obligations as Vogt of the abbey.

The abbey owned numerous estates in Toggenburg and in the Rhine valley: St. Johann, Stein, Nesslau, Kappel, St. Peterzell and Mogelsberg; and in Vorarlberg in Austria, near Feldkirch, in Klaus, Götzis and Altach. [2]

The abbey also frequently bought land in the territory which is now the principality of Liechtenstein, most notably the prominent Red House in Vaduz, which it purchased in 1525 from the heirs of the medieval owners, the Vaisli family. [3]

The abbey's high point was during the 14th century. It survived the Reformation, but lost its independence in 1555, when it became a priory of St. Gall's Abbey. [2] [4]

In 1626 the buildings were severely damaged by fire, and the monks were afflicted by a mysterious illness [5] and the community moved along the valley to a new location at Sidwald near Nesslau, since then known as Neu St. Johann. On the site of the old monastery a parish church was built, with a priest's house. [2]

The new monastery buildings in Nesslau, which were completed by 1680, were in a magnificent Rococo style. Toggenburg was an area of mixed denominations, and the priory was an instrument of the Counter-Reformation under the leadership of the Prince-Abbots of St. Gallen. [2]

The priory was dissolved in 1805. [1] The former monastic church became the Roman Catholic parish church of the parish of Neu St. Johann. The remaining buildings now accommodate a remedial educational centre known as the Johanneum. [2]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Helvetia Sacra online
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Alt St. Johann village website
  3. Vorarlberger Landesarchiv: register of deeds of Kloster St. Johann im Thurtal regarding properties in Liechtenstein Archived 2011-06-07 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
  4. The Reichsmatrikel of 1521, that lists the contributors to the army of the Holy Roman Empire at that date, mentions "Sant Johans in Turital", and if that means this monastery, then it may be an indication that this was at that time an Imperial abbey, a status it would have lost in 1555. The 1521 entry by itself however is not conclusive as evidence of Reichsfreiheit
  5. later believed to have been caused by lead poisoning from the cooking pots

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oberalteich Abbey</span>

Oberalteich Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Bogen, Bavaria, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Blaise Abbey, Black Forest</span>

Saint Blaise Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in the village of St. Blasien in the Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pfäfers Abbey</span> Benedictine monastery in Pfäfers

Pfäfers Abbey, also known as St. Pirminsberg from its position on a mountain, was a Benedictine monastery in Pfäfers near Bad Ragaz, in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. George's Abbey in the Black Forest</span>

St. George's Abbey in the Black Forest was a Benedictine monastery in St. Georgen im Schwarzwald in the southern Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alt St. Johann</span> Former municipality in St. Gallen, Switzerland

Alt St. Johann is a village in the Toggenburg region, since 2010 part of the municipality Wildhaus-Alt St.Johann in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nesslau</span> Municipality in St. Gallen, Switzerland

Nesslau is a municipality in the Toggenburg district of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rüti Monastery</span> Former Swiss Premonstratensian monastery

Rüti Monastery was a former Premonstratensian monastery, founded in 1206 and suppressed in 1525 on occasion of the Reformation in Zürich, situated in the municipality of Rüti in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland. The monastery's church was the final resting place of the Counts of Toggenburg, among them Count Friedrich VII and 13 other members of the Toggenburg family, and other noble families. Between 1206 and 1525, the monastery comprised 14 incorporated churches and the owner of extensive lands and estates at 185 localities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pankraz Vorster</span> Swiss bishop

Pankraz Vorster was a Swiss abbot. He served as the last abbot of the Abbey of Saint Gall, from 1796 to 1805.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toggenburg War</span> Swiss religious war in 1712

The Toggenburg War, also known as the Second War of Villmergen or the Swiss Civil War of 1712, was a Swiss civil war during the Old Swiss Confederacy from 12 April to 11 August 1712. The Catholic "inner cantons" and the Imperial Abbey of Saint Gall fought the Protestant cantons of Bern and Zürich as well as the abbatial subjects of Toggenburg. The conflict was a religious war, a war for hegemony in the Confederacy and an uprising of subjects. The war ended in a Protestant victory and upset the balance of political power within the Confederacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Münster Schaffhausen</span>

Münster is one of the two main churches of the old town of the Swiss city of Schaffhausen. First built in 1064 AD as a Romanesque Basilica of the then Benedictine Kloster Allerheiligen, it was rebuilt several times, and became in 1524 the Reformed Church of the city of Schaffhausen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rüti Reformed Church</span>

Reformierte Kirche Rüti is an Evangelical Reformed church in the Swiss municipality of Rüti in the Canton of Zürich. It was built between 1214 and 1219 AD as the Romanesque style church of the then Premonstratensian Kloster Rüti, an abbey that was founded in 1206 by the House of Regensberg and suppressed in 1525 as part of the Reformation in Zürich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wil–Ebnat-Kappel railway</span> Railway line in Switzerland

The Wil–Ebnat-Kappel railway is a single-track standard-gauge line that runs through the Toggenburg region of Switzerland. It was built by the Toggenburgerbahn. Its 25 kilometre-long, standard gauge line from Wil via Wattwil to Ebnat-Kappel was opened on 24 June 1870. The TB was nationalised as of 1 July 1902 and became part of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB).

Konrad von Gundelfingen was prince-abbot of the Princely Abbey of Kempten from 1284 until 1302. He was also anti-abbot of the Princely Abbey of Saint Gall from 1288 until 1291, appointed by King Rudolf I.

Walter von Trauchburg was abbot of the abbey of Saint Gall from 1239 until 1244. He is descended from an Allgäu noble family. His mother was a born as a von Güttingen.

Berchtold von Falkenstein was abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Gall from 1244 until 1272.

Kilian Germann was prince abbot of the Abbey of Saint Gall from 1529 to 1530.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otmar Kunz</span>

Otmar Kunz was abbot of the Abbey of Saint Gall from 1564 until 1577.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nesslau-Neu St. Johann railway station</span> Railway station in Switzerland

Nesslau-Neu St. Johann railway station is a railway station in Nesslau, in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen. It is the southern terminus of the Bodensee–Toggenburg railway and is served by local trains only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S2 (St. Gallen S-Bahn)</span>

The S2 is a railway service of the St. Gallen S-Bahn that provides hourly service between Nesslau-Neu St. Johann and Altstätten SG in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen, via Herisau in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. The section near Lake Constance is also part of the Bodensee S-Bahn. THURBO, a joint venture of Swiss Federal Railways and the canton of Thurgau, operates the service.

References

47°11′40.27″N9°17′8.44″E / 47.1945194°N 9.2856778°E / 47.1945194; 9.2856778