Rüeggisberg Priory

Rüeggisberg Priory (Kloster Rüeggisberg) was a Cluniac priory in the municipality of Rüeggisberg, Canton of Bern, Switzerland.

The original foundation of uncertain date, made by Lütold of Rümligen, was turned into the first Cluniac house in the German-speaking world by Cuno of Siegburg and Ulrich of Zell in about 1072, when the first cells were built. Construction of the Romanesque church lasted from about 1100 to about 1185, of which there still remain the north transept and parts of the crossing tower.

The priory was one of the most important monastic houses of Switzerland during the Middle Ages, but in the late medieval period decline set in, and in 1484 it was incorporated into the newly-built college of the Augustinian Canons of Berne Minster. The church was shut down in 1541 during the Reformation. The monastic buildings thereafter served as a source of building stone and partly as a barn.

Between 1938 and 1947 on an archaeological dig the old foundations were again laid bare, as may be seen in the little museum next to the rectory.

External links

*de icon [http://www.rueggisberg.ch/kultur/kloster.htm Information on the priory on the Rüeggisberg town website]
*de icon [http://www.kirche-rueeggisberg.ch/kirche.asp?c=klosterruine1 Information on the priory ruins on the Rüeggisberg town website]