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Rüti Monastery
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Rüti Monastery
Rüti Monastery (German: Prämonstratenserkloster Rüti) 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.
In 1206 the estate for the monastery was given by Liutold IV, Count of Regensberg, and it was confirmed on 6 May 1219 by his brother, Eberhard, Archbishop of Salzburg. The church and rights were transferred by Rudolf I von Rapperswil and Diethelm of Toggenburg to the convent in 1229. On the upper Lake Zürich peninsula at Oberbollingen, a St. Nicholas Chapel is mentioned, where around 1229 a small Cistercian (later Premonstratensian) monastery was established by the Counts of Rapperswil. That nunnery is estimated to have been (administratively) part of the Rüti Monastery; in 1267 it was united with the nearby Mariazell Wurmsbach Abbey.
Initially founded as a branch of the Premonstratensian Abbey in Churwalden, Rüti Monastery, commonly known as monastery of Saint Mary, was placed by the Bishop of Constance in 1230 to the Weissenau (Minderau) abbey and was part of the administrative district of Zirkaria Swabia. The construction of the monastery's cathedral started in 1214 and probably was finished in 1283. In 1286, for financial reason, the Countess Elisabeth von Rapperswil had to sell her farm estate in Oberdürnten including the associated rights (in particular the lower courts) to the Rüti Monastery. But the House of Rapperswil also supported the Rüti Monastery in the following decades, so Johann's I son, Johann II, assigned an estate and all rights in the name of his younger siblings on 17 June 1340.
The convent was generously endowed with money and goods by the aristocratic families in northeastern Switzerland, enabling it to buy the rights to parish churches and additional estates, among them in Aadorf by the Landenberg-Greifensee family in 1358, Bassersdorf, Dürnten, Elsau-Räterschen in 1398, Erlenbach, Eschenbach, Eschlikon, Fehraltorf, Fischenthal, Gossau, Hinwil, Hofstetten, Mönchaltorf, Neubrunn-Turbenthal, Rapperswil, Seegräben, Uster in 1438, Uznach, Wangen in der March in 1407, Wil-Dreibrunnen, Winterthur, Zollikerberg, Zollikon and Zürich. By gift, purchase and exchange, Rüti Monastery enlarged its ownership, concentrated in the early 15th century in Rüti (Ferrach and Oberdürnten), between Greifensee and Pfäffikersee and on the northeastern shore on so-called Obersee, the upper part of Zürichsee (Lake Zürich). Rüti was an important stage point along the Jakobsweg (Way of St. James) leading via Rapperswil and the wooden bridge at the Seedamm lake crossing to the Einsiedeln Abbey.
A unique document is related to one of the members of the Rüti convent: On 5 December 1374 Bilgri von Kloten declared that he and his legitimate daughter Margret Bertschinger do not raise any claims to a land, sealed by the Vogt of Rapperswil.
In 1408 the Rüti village and the monastery came under the reign of the government of the city of Zürich as part of the so-called Herrschaft Grüningen. Among many other transfers of lands and goods, on 12 May 1433 Heini Murer von Grueningen and his wife Anna Keller confirmed the transfer of their lands on Lutzelnoew island for 100 Pfund Pfennig Zürcher Währung to the Abbot Johans and the convent of the Rüti Monastery, including numerous buildings and lands in the Herrschaft Grüningen, and the document confirmed also the couple's wish to be enrolled in the monastery's libri anniversariorum (German: Jahrzeitbuch).
On 11 June 1443 marauders of the Old Swiss Confederacy plundered the monastery in the Old Zürich War, and the graves of Count Friedrich VII of Toggenburg, among them the Count of Thierstein and other nobilities, were desecrated: Item si brachen die greber in dem münster uff, und truogent die todten lichnam heruss, graf frdrichen von toggenburg, und schluogent jm ain stain in den mund; graf waldraffen von tierstain schütten si uss dem bom [tomb], und wurffen ainander mit sinen gebainen. The devastation by the confederates met the monastery, materially and idealistic. The plundering of the region weakened the monastic manorial, and the desecration of the graves diminished the importance of the monastery as preferred burial place of the nobility. Memoria for the noble families remain largely intact during the Reformation in Zürich to the demolition of the Toggenburgerkapelle vault and partial new construction of the present Rüti Reformed Church in 1771.
On 29 November 1389, seven months after the Battle of Näfels, the abbot Bilgeri von Wagenberg moved about 100 bodies (in fact, their bones) of the Swiss-Austrian knights and soldiers, among them his brother Johann von Klingenberg, from the battle field and reburied them (most of them in a mass grave within the church) at Rüti Monastery. The members of the Toggenburg family were buried in the so-called Toggenburger Gruft, a burial vault where is as of today the entrance hall to the church. In addition, there was a large number of members of noble families/knights living nearby (Regensberg family excluded) and the families of the latter Amtsmann, the representatives of the city of Zürich between 1525 and 1789. Most of these gravestones are lost, destroyed – probably the ones of the nobilities in June 1443 by the Swiss troops in the Old Zürich War – or were re-used for buildings etc.
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Rüti Monastery
Rüti Monastery (German: Prämonstratenserkloster Rüti) 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.
In 1206 the estate for the monastery was given by Liutold IV, Count of Regensberg, and it was confirmed on 6 May 1219 by his brother, Eberhard, Archbishop of Salzburg. The church and rights were transferred by Rudolf I von Rapperswil and Diethelm of Toggenburg to the convent in 1229. On the upper Lake Zürich peninsula at Oberbollingen, a St. Nicholas Chapel is mentioned, where around 1229 a small Cistercian (later Premonstratensian) monastery was established by the Counts of Rapperswil. That nunnery is estimated to have been (administratively) part of the Rüti Monastery; in 1267 it was united with the nearby Mariazell Wurmsbach Abbey.
Initially founded as a branch of the Premonstratensian Abbey in Churwalden, Rüti Monastery, commonly known as monastery of Saint Mary, was placed by the Bishop of Constance in 1230 to the Weissenau (Minderau) abbey and was part of the administrative district of Zirkaria Swabia. The construction of the monastery's cathedral started in 1214 and probably was finished in 1283. In 1286, for financial reason, the Countess Elisabeth von Rapperswil had to sell her farm estate in Oberdürnten including the associated rights (in particular the lower courts) to the Rüti Monastery. But the House of Rapperswil also supported the Rüti Monastery in the following decades, so Johann's I son, Johann II, assigned an estate and all rights in the name of his younger siblings on 17 June 1340.
The convent was generously endowed with money and goods by the aristocratic families in northeastern Switzerland, enabling it to buy the rights to parish churches and additional estates, among them in Aadorf by the Landenberg-Greifensee family in 1358, Bassersdorf, Dürnten, Elsau-Räterschen in 1398, Erlenbach, Eschenbach, Eschlikon, Fehraltorf, Fischenthal, Gossau, Hinwil, Hofstetten, Mönchaltorf, Neubrunn-Turbenthal, Rapperswil, Seegräben, Uster in 1438, Uznach, Wangen in der March in 1407, Wil-Dreibrunnen, Winterthur, Zollikerberg, Zollikon and Zürich. By gift, purchase and exchange, Rüti Monastery enlarged its ownership, concentrated in the early 15th century in Rüti (Ferrach and Oberdürnten), between Greifensee and Pfäffikersee and on the northeastern shore on so-called Obersee, the upper part of Zürichsee (Lake Zürich). Rüti was an important stage point along the Jakobsweg (Way of St. James) leading via Rapperswil and the wooden bridge at the Seedamm lake crossing to the Einsiedeln Abbey.
A unique document is related to one of the members of the Rüti convent: On 5 December 1374 Bilgri von Kloten declared that he and his legitimate daughter Margret Bertschinger do not raise any claims to a land, sealed by the Vogt of Rapperswil.
In 1408 the Rüti village and the monastery came under the reign of the government of the city of Zürich as part of the so-called Herrschaft Grüningen. Among many other transfers of lands and goods, on 12 May 1433 Heini Murer von Grueningen and his wife Anna Keller confirmed the transfer of their lands on Lutzelnoew island for 100 Pfund Pfennig Zürcher Währung to the Abbot Johans and the convent of the Rüti Monastery, including numerous buildings and lands in the Herrschaft Grüningen, and the document confirmed also the couple's wish to be enrolled in the monastery's libri anniversariorum (German: Jahrzeitbuch).
On 11 June 1443 marauders of the Old Swiss Confederacy plundered the monastery in the Old Zürich War, and the graves of Count Friedrich VII of Toggenburg, among them the Count of Thierstein and other nobilities, were desecrated: Item si brachen die greber in dem münster uff, und truogent die todten lichnam heruss, graf frdrichen von toggenburg, und schluogent jm ain stain in den mund; graf waldraffen von tierstain schütten si uss dem bom [tomb], und wurffen ainander mit sinen gebainen. The devastation by the confederates met the monastery, materially and idealistic. The plundering of the region weakened the monastic manorial, and the desecration of the graves diminished the importance of the monastery as preferred burial place of the nobility. Memoria for the noble families remain largely intact during the Reformation in Zürich to the demolition of the Toggenburgerkapelle vault and partial new construction of the present Rüti Reformed Church in 1771.
On 29 November 1389, seven months after the Battle of Näfels, the abbot Bilgeri von Wagenberg moved about 100 bodies (in fact, their bones) of the Swiss-Austrian knights and soldiers, among them his brother Johann von Klingenberg, from the battle field and reburied them (most of them in a mass grave within the church) at Rüti Monastery. The members of the Toggenburg family were buried in the so-called Toggenburger Gruft, a burial vault where is as of today the entrance hall to the church. In addition, there was a large number of members of noble families/knights living nearby (Regensberg family excluded) and the families of the latter Amtsmann, the representatives of the city of Zürich between 1525 and 1789. Most of these gravestones are lost, destroyed – probably the ones of the nobilities in June 1443 by the Swiss troops in the Old Zürich War – or were re-used for buildings etc.
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