Königsfelden Abbey is a former Franciscan monastery and former Clarisse convent in the municipality of Windisch in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It was founded in 1308 by the Habsburgs and during the Reformation in 1528 it was secularized. The complex was then the residence of the bailiffs of Bern, and since 1868 it has been a psychiatric clinic. The church is a museum since 2009. It contains a 14th Century stained glass which, together with the windows in the Cathedral of Bern, are the most valuable in Switzerland.
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On May 1, 1308, King Albrecht I was murdered by his nephew John Parricida in the community of Windisch. In memory of this event his wife, Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol, founded Königsfelden Abbey in 1310-11 at the site – approximately 200 meters (660 ft) from Brugg.[1][2] Albrecht’s oldest daughter, Agnes of Hungary, the widow of the Hungarian King Andrew III, moved to Königsfelden in 1317 and led it to commercial success, but did not join a religious order.[3][4]
With the conquest of the Western Aargau by the city of Bern the Abbey lost its connection with the Habsburg family. After the Reformation in 1528 the monastery was abolished. The complex served as the seat of the Bernese bailiffs of the Königsfelden district, a steward took over the administration of former monastic property. In 1804 the former monastery became the property of the canton of Aargau, which had been founded in the year before. The new canton established a mental hospital. In 1872 a new building was built and since 1887 it has been a psychiatric clinic. During the construction a large part of the Franciscan convent was demolished.[5]
Königsfelden Abbey in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.