Klosterkirche Einsiedeln

Einsiedeln Monastery is a place of prayer – in silence or in community. You can pause in the monastery church, the chapel of grace or one of the side chapels and take part in a public service.

Minster

The monastery church of Einsiedeln is one of the most important Baroque buildings north of the Alps and, together with the monastery, forms a spatial unit. Abbot Nikolaus consecrated this church in 1735.

Inside, the frescoes and stuccoes by the brothers Cosmas Damian and Egid Quirin Asam merge with the architecture, giving the church the opulent splendor of the late Baroque. The church is divided into a separate choir, the Christmas and Last Supper dome and the octagon vault, under which the Chapel of Mercy with the Black Madonna is located.

Salve Regina

Don't miss the monks' vespers at 4.30 pm. They  then sing a polyphonic, famous Salve Regina in the Gnadenkapelle in a movement from the late 18th century.

The tradition goes back to a foundation from 1547. At that time, the Cistercian abbot Johannes von Lenzingen, who had been expelled from his monastery in Maulbronn (D) during the turmoil of the Reformation, came to Einsiedeln, where he made the foundation and died in the same year. He was buried next to the Chapel of Grace. The Salve Regina, a prayer to the Mother of God, Mary, is one of the four Marian final antiphons that have been sung at the end of the Liturgy of the Hours (Compline or Vespers) since the 13th century.

Daily (except Good Friday and Holy Saturday) at approx. 5 p.m. (following vespers from 4.30 p.m.)