Saint George’s Abbey in Stein am Rhein

7 September 2021

One of the Lake Constance region’s cultural and historical treasures is in Stein am Rhein (Schaffhausen Canton).

The (former) Benedictine monastery of St. George was founded in 1002-1007 and is excellently preserved. That year, Emperor Henry II (973-1024) moved the abbey from Singen to its present location, where the Rhine exits Lake Constance. Having acquired minting rights and market privileges early, the monastery began to thrive, as did the town.

After the abolition of the monastery in 1525 during the Reformation, it served as the residence of the bailiffs until the end of the eighteenth century.

The museum shows the monastery, the private living quarters of the abbots, the gardens and the monastery’s history.  The murals in the banquet hall are among the earliest and most important examples of Renaissance painting north of the Alps. The abbots’ rooms are richly decorated with panelling, wood carvings and numerous murals.

The large monastery and medicinal gardens offer a view of the Untersee arm of Lake Constance,  the Rhine and the island of Werd.

(Source and further information: www.klostersanktgeorgen.ch).