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Einsiedeln Abbey

Benedictine monastery in Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ125072234 ↗
Source-derived summary

Einsiedeln Abbey (German: Kloster Einsiedeln) is a Catholic monastery administered by the Benedictine Order in the village of Einsiedeln, Switzerland.

The Abbey of Einsiedeln is one of the most important baroque monastic sites and the largest place of pilgrimage in Switzerland.

The Black Madonna of Einsiedeln in the Chapel of Grace attracts around 800,000 pilgrims and tourists every year. The community of Benedictine monks has around 40 members. The monastery is not under the jurisdiction of a diocese or a bishop because it is a territorial abbey.

The abbey operates a private high school along with a winery, sawmill, restaurant and other small businesses in order to support itself. One of the high school students, Ludwig von Flüe, later made a career in the Swiss Guards in France. He played a key role in the Storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution.

History

Origin of the monastery

The history of Einsiedeln Abbey starts with Meinrad of Einsiedeln. Born in 797 in Sulchen, he was educated at the abbey school on Reichenau Island in what is today Germany.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Einsiedeln Abbey” as benedictine monastery in Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Einsiedeln, Abbey and Benedictine.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current 178-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1000. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Einsiedeln, Abbey and Benedictine providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Einsiedeln Abbey”, the useful work is to connect “benedictine monastery in Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q125072234. VIAF identifies the subject as 143458106. The Library of Congress control number is n50072116. Authority coordinates are 47.127, 8.751. 1 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Einsiedeln Abbey”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Einsiedeln Abbey primary sources, Einsiedeln Abbey archive and Einsiedeln research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Einsiedeln Abbey”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Einsiedeln Abbey” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.