- Pfäfers Abbey
Pfäfers Abbey (Kloster Pfäfers), also known as St. Pirminsberg from its situation on a mountain, was a Benedictine monastery in
Pfäfers nearBad Ragaz ,Canton of St. Gallen ,Switzerland .Situated at the junction of the
Tamina andRhine valleys, it flourished as a religious house and owner of lands and serfs, as well as assuming extraordinary importance as a political and cultural centre of theChur -Rhaetia n region.Its legendary founder is
Saint Pirmin . Its first documentary attestation dates to762 .In1482 , the abbey territory fell under the codominium ("Gemeine Herrschaft ") ofSargans of seven cantons (the "Acht Orte " minus Berne) of theOld Swiss Confederacy .In
1665 the medieval abbey was entirely burnt down, and rebuilt closer to the mountain slope, in the present dominant position. The first rooms were ready for occupation in1674 , and the new abbey church was dedicated in1694 .The abbey, after several years of internal dissension, was dissolved by the cantonal government of St. Gallen in
1838 . Since1847 , the buildings have been used, first as an asylum, and more recently, as the St. Pirminsberg psychiatric clinic.From
1602 until its dissolution, the abbey was a member of theSwiss Congregation , now part of theBenedictine Confederation .External links
* [http://www.psychiatrie-sued.ch/abtei.asp Website of the St. Gallische Psychiatrie: Region Süd, with the Klinik St. Pirminsberg] (gives a very detailed history of the abbey)
* PDFlink| [http://www.sg.ch/home/kultur/stiftsarchiv/publikationen/bibliographie_werner.Par.0007.File.tmp/BibliographieWV.pdf Bibliography of W Vogler] (lists many articles and other publications on Pfäfers Abbey)
* [http://www.picswiss.ch/StGallen/SG-07-03.jpgKloster Pfäfers] (image)
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