Lazariterkirche Gfenn, Romanesque church in Gfenn, Dübendorf, Switzerland

The Lazariterkirche Gfenn is a medieval stone building with a rectangular main space and recessed choir, featuring three round-arched doorways on its exterior. Inside, the walls hold paintings from the Middle Ages, and the building continues to serve for weddings and concerts.

The first documented mention of the "pious brothers of the Hospital of St. Lazarus in the Gvenne" dates from 1250; settlement is dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, and Vogt Rudolf III of Rapperswil, a pilgrim to the Holy Land in 1217, is assumed to be the founder. The male convent was last mentioned in 1326, but by 1368 the order's mistress Bertha von Hünenberg led nuns there. In 1525 the city of Zurich dissolved the monastery, sold the buildings in 1527, and the church became a barn until it was acquired in 1956 and restored from 1961 to 1963 after an arson fire.

The name Gfenn refers to the marshy ground that once surrounded the moraine hill where the church stands. Since 1967 the building has been used ecumenically and parity by several Christian communities as a Simultankirche. Every two years the order's general chapter meets here, and in early April the Lazarites hold an investiture ceremony.

The church stands on a moraine hill about ten metres above the hamlet of Gfenn, east of Dübendorf; the Chrutzelried nature reserve lies nearby. The former monastery room and the rediscovered Romanesque cellar, restored in 1988, are used as public rooms. The building is a Simultankirche shared by several Christian communities, so access can be limited during their services.

The church is one of the most important centres of the European Lazarites today, alongside Seedorf in Uri and Schlatt in Südbaden. Every two years the order holds its general chapter here, and in early April it celebrates an investiture ceremony.