Wonnenstein and St. Gall

23 August 2023

Wonnenstein Monastery has a particular cultural and historical significance for the two Appenzeller cantons, St.Gall Abbey and the former diocese of Constance.

Located near the village of Niederteufen (Appenzell Ausserrhoden), the monastery has linked the two Appenzell cantons since 1597. The monastery buildings belong to Appenzell Innerrhoden, the farmland to Appenzell Ausserrhoden.

Wonnenstein was initially a Beguine community at the beginning of the 13th century. Around 1379, on the eve of the Appenzeller Wars, abbot Kuno von Stoffeln of St Gallen Abbey founded the monastery.

In 1524, however, the city of St Gallen introduced the Reformation. The Reformation was closely intertwined with the history of the canton of Appenzell in the second half of the 16th century (member of the Eidgenossenschaft since 1513).

On 8 September 1597, the split into the Protestant canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden and the Catholic canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden followed after a vote. The monastery was at its peak (economically, culturally and financially) in the 17th century.

In 1938, the convent still had 47 nuns. After 1964, however, no new sisters registered. In 2010, five sisters were still living in the convent and today one sister. The farmland has been leased since 1980.

Since 2014, the association Kloster Maria Rosengarten Wonnenstein has been the successor to the convent.

(Source and further Information: Verein Kloster Maria Rosengarten Wonnenstein)