Einsiedeln Abbey

Einsiedeln's history spans over twelve centuries, from Saint Meinrad's 9th-century hermitage through the monastery's founding in 934, the legendary Angel's Consecration in 948, centuries as one of Europe's great pilgrimage sites, near-destruction during the French Revolutionary invasion, and continuing vitality today. Throughout, the thread of Benedictine prayer has never broken.

Meinrad was born around 797 into the family of the Counts of Hohenzollern. He entered monastic life young, gaining reputation as a holy man whose prayers brought healing. The attention became too much. Around 828, he withdrew into the Finsterwald—the Dark Forest—seeking solitude so deep that even seekers might not find him.

They found him anyway. For twenty-six years, Meinrad received pilgrims in his hermitage, offering counsel and blessing despite his longing for solitude. He built a small chapel, reportedly housing a statue of the Virgin given by Abbess Hildegard of Zurich. Two ravens became his companions, the only community he allowed himself.

On January 21, 861, two men came to his door. According to tradition, they were robbers seeking the treasure they assumed a holy man must have. Meinrad welcomed them, shared his simple meal, and was murdered for his hospitality. The ravens pursued the killers to Zurich, circling and crying until they were captured and brought to justice. The ravens remain part of the abbey's coat of arms.

For seventy years, the hermitage stood empty but visited. Then Eberhard, former Provost of Strasbourg, gathered Benedictine monks and established a monastery at the site around 934. The patronage of Otto I and Duchess Regelinda of Swabia provided resources; the Rule of Saint Benedict provided structure. What Meinrad had begun alone would continue in community.

The Angel's Consecration came in 948. Bishop Konrad of Constance had arrived to consecrate the new church when, according to tradition, Christ descended from heaven with the Virgin Mary, the four Evangelists, St. Peter, St. Gregory, and a host of angels. Christ himself performed the consecration. The next morning, as Konrad prepared to begin the formal rite, an angel stopped him: 'Desist, brother, the chapel has been consecrated by God.' The story spread rapidly; a papal bull confirmed its authenticity in 964. Einsiedeln became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in medieval Europe.