Saint Urban's Abbey

In 1195, the first monks moved about 3 km (1.9 mi) down the valley to establish a larger monastery building.

During the 13th century, the monastery expanded with land grants from local nobles and became a major landowner in the Langeten and Rot valleys.

In 1280, the Abbey acquired a small chapel at Fribach, which became a local Marian pilgrimage site until the Protestant Reformation.

During the 1490s Lucerne began interfering with the monastery leadership to force St. Urban's to reform many aspects of monastic life.

However, the surrounding Swiss Confederation prevented the abbot from expanding his power or creating an ecclesiastical state around the Abbey.

[2] During the 17th century, the Abbey supported the creation of a pan-German Cistercian council and the goals of the Counter-Reformation.

Then, in 1711, Abbot Malachy Glutz had the Vorarlberg architect Franz Beer rebuild the church and convent buildings in the baroque style.

[2] The Gottfried Keller Foundation aims the acquisition of major works from Switzerland and abroad, to entrust them as loans to Swiss museums or to return them to their original locations, such as the choir of the St. Urban Abbey.

The collection comprises more than 8,500 paintings, sculptures and other art objects in around 110 museums respectively locations in Switzerland.