Engelberg Magazin Nr. 27

WINTER

ENGELBERG ABBEY: AN ENCOUNTER WITH HISTORY

WORDS: Beat Christen

The year 2020 marks the 900th jubilee of Engel- berg Abbey. The Benedictine abbey’s long history is also the history of the valley community and its many partner communities, some of which have had a close relationship with the abbey for cen- turies. When you visit Engelberg Abbey, you can sense that history all around – inside the abbey walls, or outside, in the former vegetable garden in the sheltered courtyard. This year, that garden was lovingly converted into a delightful “zone of encounter”.

Because of the corona pandemic, most of the events com- memorating the jubilee have been postponed until 2021. You can view the programme at www.kloster-engelberg.ch . A delay of a year isn’t much when you consider that the abbey has been around for nine centuries! The 9,097 pipes of Switzerland’s biggest organ will sound just as good when organist Alessandro Valoriani takes to the keys in the abbey’s baroque church during next year’s programme of events. The church is a treat for the eyes as well as the ears – when the sun shines through the high arched windows it creates a beautiful, timeless interplay of colours and makes the paintings on the high arched ceiling even more radiant.

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ENGELBERG ABBEY: AN ENCOUNTER WITH HISTORY