Monastery in the Au, Benedictine convent in Trachslau, Switzerland.
The Monastery in the Au is a Benedictine abbey at the edge of Trachslau, featuring a modern church structure within the wider religious complex. The site combines traditional monastery architecture with contemporary elements in its overall design.
The community traces back to four forest-sister houses documented around 1359 in Alpthal; by 1400 it counted about 40 sisters. In 1535 the three houses then existing were merged at today's site. Under Abbot Augustin Hofmann of Einsiedeln the sisters adopted the Rule of Saint Benedict in 1617. A church was begun in 1600 and the monastery followed in 1619; after a fire in 1684 the complex was rebuilt and stayed largely unchanged until the church was rebuilt in 1881.
The monastery remains home to a stable religious community that shares its grounds with various visitors. The sisters shape daily life at the site through their presence and regular spiritual routines.
The monastery stands in the Trachslau quarter of Einsiedeln, in the canton of Schwyz. The site lies off the road between Trachslau and Einsiedeln; the church built by Hansueli Steinmann in 1972 is open to visitors, and the sisters' enclosure remains closed to the public.
The monastery began as four forest-sister houses recorded around 1359 in Alpthal; by 1400 the community numbered about 40 sisters. In 1862 Sabina Schneider left Au with three companions to found Kloster Marienburg in Ofteringen. A Roman decree of 1984 raised the house to the status of an abbey.
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