From Habsburg to Bern Bern’s conquest in 1415 put an end to the Habsburg rule in Aargau. A Bernese bailiff was employed as administrator of the Habsburg memorial and convent in Königsfelden. The Franciscan monastery and Poor Clares convent remained, but never regained the significance they enjoyed in the 14th century during the time of the Habsburgs.
The convent buildings during the Bern administration The convent was secularised in 1528 during the reformation. Having acquired the valuable convent property, belonging to the former Habsburg’s self-governing understate, Bern succeeded in creating one of the richest bailiwick’s in the Bernese state. The convent buildings were converted for use as the headquarters of the bailiwick and as a sanatorium for the sick and the poor. Services were still held in the church choir while the nave was used as a storage area.
Königsfelden estate Until the end of the Bernese rule the bailiffs represented the new landlords. As a rule, they came from the Bernese upper class. A number of them were buried in the church. Together with a clerk of the estate and a small number of servants they self-administered the manor farm and the bailiwick. The convent was used partly as a warehouse and was even extended to form a representative bailiwick residence.
Adress / Contact
Kloster Königsfelden 5210 Windisch Phone +41 (0)56 441 88 33
Grosser Rat
