Fraumünster Church (“Women's church” in German) is a former Benedictine abbey situated in the heart of Zürich, Switzerland that was founded in the mid-9th century CE by Louis the German and his daughters, Hildegard and Bertha. Flourishing in the Middle Ages until the Swiss Reformation, Fraumünster had “imperial immediacy,” which gave the abbey a privileged political and constitutional status under imperial feudal law. The abbesses of Fraumünster were thus able to act and rule with tremendous power, independent of everyone except the Holy Roman Emperor himself. Following the Swiss Reformation led by Ulrich Zwingli, the abbey at Fraumünster was dissolved in 1524 CE and its last abbess, Katharina von Zimmern, placed Fraumünster in the control of the city of Zürich. Fraumünster has been a Swiss Reformed city church since that time. The church is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks and along with Grossmunster, Predigerkirche, and St. Peterskirche, Fraumünster is one of the oldest and largest churches in Zürich.
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Definition
Timeline
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853Fraumünster founded as an abbey by King Louis the German and his daughters Princess Hildegard and Princess Bertha.
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c. 1145 - c. 1300Fraumünster's medieval abbesses dominate political and social life in Zürich, Switzerland.
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1519Beginnings of the Protestant Reformation in Zürich, Switzerland led by Ulrich Zwingli.
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1524Abbess Katharina von Zimmern hands Fraumünster over to the city of Zürich.
