Schaffhausen - Kloster Allerheiligen

Kloster Allerheiligen (= "All Saints Abbey") is a former Benedictine monastery, founded by Eberhard VI. von Nellenburg in 1049. The Nellenburg family controlled the bypass of the Rheinfall waterfalls, what led to great wealth. The construction site of the monastery was consecrated by by Pope Leo IX and the works were completed already 1064.

The church was dedicated to the Saviour, the Holy Cross, the Virgin Mary and All the Saints. Allerheiligen became, instead of the Reichenau Abbey, the new grave lay by the founding family, and Eberhard himself became a monk in the abbey, and died here in 1078.

During the Investiture Controversy the pope loyal Burkhard von Nellenburg, Ebergard´s son and heir, conformed in 1080 all of the rights of the monastery. The monastery was subordinate to the Pope, and received the vast estate of the Nellenburg family, the free election of the abbot, and the town of Schaffhausen. Burkhard remained the monastery's Vogt, and motivated the abbot to join with some monks from the Hirsau Abbey, to reform the monastery on the model of Hirsau, that was based on Cluny

During the Reformation in Switzerland, the abbey was abolished, and the church of the abbey (seen here) became the second main city church in 1524. Kloster Allerheiligen is a labyrinthic complex of buildings.

These two elephants were hard to find.

They are only centimeters over the street level. They are carved into one of the foundation stones of the Romanesque tower. In 1150 Abbot Ulrich had planned to build two towers for the "Muenster", but only one was completed. The elephants are not that exact as the elephant seen in the loggia. They look much more like mythical animals.

Seen here is actually a copy, as the orginal carving is safeguarded in the museum meanwhile.