The Dominican convent is located at the foot of a terraced hillside in the middle of the town of Weesen on the effluence of the Maag respectively Linth from Walensee.

The name Weesen was first mentioned on 28 August 1232, in a document that confirms an exchange of goods between members of the noble families of Kyburg and Rapperswil in the villages of Oberwesin and Niderwesin that were in the possession of Kyburg to 1264 respectively of Rapperwil to 1283,[1] when Rudolf V, the underaged brother of Elisabeth von Rapperswil died, and the fiefs were acquired by Rudolf von Habsburg.

Situated between the former villages of Oberwesin and Niderwesin, in 1259 Count Rudolf IV von Rapperswil, Countess Elisabeth's father, donated certain duties and lands "in den Widen" for the construction of their monastery.

Heinrich III, Bishop of Konstanz, in 1272 issued the authorization to build a chapel, and called a Dominican priest for the fair, the sacraments and the pastoral care of the nunnery.

[2] Among other donations, the nunnery was given land in the Durnachtal valley, sealed on 17 June 1353 in Glarus, when Judenta Wäzzi was mentioned as a nun in Weesen.

[4] Prior to 1319, the nuns were forced, apparently by the local priest, to comply with the Augustinian rule; the circumstances are unknown, but the congregation seems soon to be returned to the Dominican rule, as specifically mentioned in a document dated 13 March 1354: "Die gaistlich frouwe, die priorin der samenunge zu Wide bi Wesenne gelegen...gemeinlich prediger orden";[3] Prediger is the commonly used German name for the Dominican order.

There were also plans to rebuild the monastery on the upper hill named Gmähl, caused to the recurring floods, but a new construction became obsolete when the Linth canal was built in the 19th century.

Until recently, the community severed repeatedly, in particular, in the 18th century the monastery was three times heavily affected by the river's water, and the foundations even partially washed-away.

[5] The church and monastery guest house are open to the public, but the other sections of the nunnery are part of the private area (Klausur) of the monastic community.

[8] In the so-called Rätischer Reichsurbar of 842/43 AD, a basilica in Widen, tributary to the Pfäfers Abbey, is mentioned which was located at the outflow of the Lauibach stream.

When in 1906 the last two nuns of the Dominican convent St. Katharinental (repealed in 1860) moved to Weesen, they also contributed approximately 440 volumes of German ascetic literature.

This forms the core of the still preserved early modern portfolio, which was developed for the most part in the 20th century, along with recent literature, in list files referred to authors and subjects.

In 1973 there were taken over about 1,000 volumes of the library of the auxiliary priest home of Redemptorists (German: Hilfspriesterheim der Redemptoristen), including 25 works published before 1900.

The majority of early modern prints was part of the library of the St. Katharina's convent, a small number from other monasteries, for example, "Abraham a Sancta Clara, Beschreibung der berühmbten Wallfahrt Maria Stern", Baden 1688, from the Rheinau Abbey.

Popular authors are Michael Lintzel (14 works), Anna Katharina Emmerich (13), Alban Stolz (12), Martin von Cochem (11), Alphons Maria Liguori (10) and Ludwig de Ponte (9).

[10] Medicine and herbalism (16 works) are represented by Lorenz Fries' "Spiegel der artzney" (Strassburg 1532), "Das krëuterbuch Oder Herbarius" (Augsburg 1534), "Die Neue Apothecker/Jar=Ordnung" (Wien 1744), and "Volksaufklärerische Anleitung für das Landvolk in Absicht auf seine Gesundheit" (Augsburg 1787) by Auguste Tissot and translated into German by Hans Kaspar Hirzel.

Worth mentioning are further grammars and dictionaries (14), literature on the history (13) and cook and maid books (17), e.g. "Luzernerisches Koch=Buch" (Luzern 1809), "Constanzer Kochbuch" (Konstanz 1827 and 1835).

16 to 18 nuns would be ideal for the monastic life in Weesen, but to go active on a quest to attract new novices for the monastery, contradicts the community's attitude.

In addition, the nuns provide pastoral care, run a cloister shop and a bakery that bakes eucharistic breads, as well as an atelier that produces candles and icons.

When the fully baked bread plates have been stored for a few hours in a room with high humidity, the small round wafers are subsequently cut.