Fraumünster

The Fraumünster has the most beautiful stained glass windows in Zürich, courtesy of Marc Chagall and Augusto Giacometti (cousin of Alberto).

The Fraumünster’s history goes all the way back to 853, when King Ludwig gave his daughter Hildegard the convent and tower-less basilica which stood on this site. Like all new real estate owners, the first thing Hildegard did was renovate; she added a crypt to house Felix and Regula, Zürich’s patron saints.

Operations went smoothly – the convent attracted a lot of boldface names and even began minting coins. During the Reformation, however, the church was stripped of its adornments and ownership passed to the city of Zürich. The Fraumünster became a place of worship for Veltliner and Huguenot refugees, housed a Russian Orthodox church and later hosted both Catholic and Protestant services.

The present structure was built in the 13th century. In the 18th century, the south tower was removed and the north tower was heightened. The 20th century brought much scaffolding: the nave was renovated in 1911, Augusto Giacometti designed the north transept’s windows in 1945 and Marc Chagall designed new stained glass windows for the Romanesque choir (dating from 1250-70), the choir and the southern transept in 1967, 1970 and 1978, respectively.

Don’t forget to look at the organ. It’s the largest one in Zürich, at 5,793 pipes.

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