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Fischingen Monastery

Fischingen Monastery

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Fischingen Monastery

Name: Fischingen Monastery
Rating: 2

Recommended by 18 hikers

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Location: Fischingen, Münchwilen, Thurgau, Eastern Switzerland, Switzerland

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Best Hikes to Fischingen Monastery

4.5

(31)

274

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1. Panoramic Viewpoint Thurgau – Alewindebööl Viewpoint loop from Gähwil

12.2km

03:49

430m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Intermediate

4.4

(21)

137

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2. Kloster Fischingen – Panoramic Viewpoint Thurgau loop from Gähwil

14.1km

04:36

610m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Intermediate

5.0

(2)

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3. Kloster Fischingen – Hörnli Summit loop from Gähwil

12.0km

03:54

530m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

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Paul

August 4, 2025

Fischingen Monastery History / 900 Years of Monastery History
Since 1879, the monastery properties have been owned by the Fischingen Monastery Association. The monastery is home to a small Benedictine community, which is a tenant. The association also ensures that this national monument is open to the public. It has thus been responsible for the maintenance and revitalization of the historic complex for more than 140 years.
Bishop Ulrich II of Constance founded Fischingen Monastery before 1138. It flourished during the Baroque period and was dissolved by the Thurgau government in 1848.
In 1879, the St. Iddazell Association acquired the monastery complex, which was converted into an educational center in 1982. It remains in their possession to this day.
Starting in 1943, monks from Engelberg came to Fischingen to care for the children's home.
In 1977, they were able to rebuild the old Benedictine abbey.
Text / Source: Fischingen Monastery
pilgerinfischingen.ch/im-kloster/lageplan-kloster

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Paul

August 4, 2025

Fischingen Monastery / A Journey Through History
In 1138, Ulrich II, Bishop of Constance, founded a private episcopal monastery in his domain on the upper reaches of the Murg River and settled it with Benedictine monks from the Petershausen Monastery in Constance. After an initial period of prosperity, the Fischingen convent numbered barely more than 10 monks until the 17th century. In addition to maintaining monastic life, they were responsible for pastoral care in the incorporated parishes of Dussnang (with Au), Bichelsee, Sirnach, and Bettwiesen, as well as in Fischingen. The Reformation led to a cessation of monastic life in Fischingen for several years. Abbot Heinrich Stoll, a native of Zurich, converted to the new doctrine in 1526 and married; the four remaining monks soon followed his example.
It was the Catholic districts of the Diet that brought about the re-establishment of the monastery by proposing the governor of the Abbot of St. Gallen, Father Markus Schenkli, as the new Abbot of Fischingen at the Diet in Baden in July 1540. After initial personnel and financial difficulties, the spirit of reform prevailed in Fischingen, and the monastery experienced its long prosperity throughout the Baroque period, with an average of 30 monks. Under the saintly Abbot Joachim Seiler of Wil (1672–1688), a prolific spiritual writer and sought-after preacher, monastic spirituality reached such a peak that it was praised in a visitation report with the words "rather to be recommended than improved." The construction of the new monastery church (1685–1687) also took place during Abbot Joachim's time.
Abbot Nikolaus Degen von Lachen (1747–1776) is considered Fischingen's greatest Baroque architect. He expanded the church to include the upper choir in the ornate Rococo style and commissioned the construction of the symmetrically designed, beautifully designed monastery buildings in the east and south of the square. Due to the monastery's heavy debts, the earlier buildings from 1577 and 1635 remained in place in the west. Abbot Augustin Bloch von Oberbuchsiten (1776–1815) skillfully guided the monastery through the turmoil of the French Revolution and had the church's lower choir remodeled in the early neoclassical style.
Text / Source: Fischingen Monastery Association, old website
benediktiner-fischingen.ch/unsere-geschichte

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Elevation 670 m

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Thursday 30 October

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Max wind speed: 13.0 km/h

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Location: Fischingen, Münchwilen, Thurgau, Eastern Switzerland, Switzerland

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Fischingen Monastery

1. Panoramic Viewpoint Thurgau – Alewindebööl Viewpoint loop from Gähwil

2. Kloster Fischingen – Panoramic Viewpoint Thurgau loop from Gähwil

3. Kloster Fischingen – Hörnli Summit loop from Gähwil

Other Popular Places to Check Out

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