Admission: Museum entrance fee Discover original objects from excavations! How did the Romans live 2,000 years ago on the territory of present-day Switzerland? What did they eat? What weapons and clothes did they wear? For more than 100 years, archaeologists in the Brugg/Windisch area have been researching the site where the only legionary camp on the territory of present-day Switzerland once stood. Largest collection of Roman writing tablets The Vindonissa Museum shows original objects from these excavations in its permanent exhibition. It presents life and everyday routines in the legionary camp
Museum forest Price Entrance free Location The museum forest is located above the playground near Wildegg Castle. 0 Forest use in the 18th and early 19th centuries The museum forest at Wildegg Castle shows how forests were used in the 18th and early 19th centuries: as a larder, source of wood, grazing land and hunting ground. At the heart of the museum forest is the wood pasture. In early and late summer, goats graze here, just as they did 200 years ago. Guided tours and workshops bring this historical use of the forest to life and shed light on the highly topical issues of biodiversity and
Permanent exhibition Admission Museum entrance fee Take a journey through the history of knowledge and belief At the Observatory, take a journey through the history of knowledge and belief in a cinematic installation. Together with a group of pupils from Wettingen Cantonal School, you will visit places that tell this story: from the earliest known cave paintings to the vastness of the World Wide Web. On this journey, you will discover how the monks of the Cistercian abbey understood knowledge in the Middle Ages – and how the expulsion of the monks from the abbey in 1841 was linked to new concepts
Admission Free of charge Tradition of monastic healing Today, medicinal herbs, spices, flowers and also certain vegetables grow in the medicinal garden of Wettingen Abbey. The garden showcases the long tradition of monastic medicine. The original location and design of the medicinal garden are not known in detail. It is assumed that, as in comparable abbey complexes, the Wettingen garden was located by the infirmary wing. The garden has been reconstructed at this location, based on the Hortulus book on gardening by the Reichenau abbot Walahfrid Strabo and the St. Gallen abbey plan from the 9th
Admission Museum entrance fee Idyllic garden in the heart of the abbey complex Experience a special monastic atmosphere in the cloister garden of Wettingen Abbey: the idyllic garden with its meadow, yew tree, water basin and path is located within the abbey walls and surrounded by the cloister quadrangle. Throughout the ages, the cloister garden was designed as a spiritual garden with a central solitary tree. In monastic culture, the tree is reminiscent of the forbidden tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. On the other hand, it stands for life, as a symbol of Christ and the cross. Today's
Admission Free of charge English park, kitchen garden and plane tree avenue Discover secluded spots in the convent garden of Wettingen Abbey and stroll through the historic kitchen garden. A walk through the avenue, with its 200-year-old plane trees, is unforgettable. The convent garden – one of the first landscape gardens in Switzerland – extends from the abbey over three terraces down to the Limmat river. Fruit trees, a vineyard, a vegetable garden and a grotto invite you to stay a while. English park On the top terrace is the landscape garden designed according to the English model. The park is
Permanent exhibition Admission Entrance free 0 Stately summer residence The stately abbot's house is situated to the south-west of the abbey, near the river Limmat. You can reach it by walking from the north through the front garden, which has been laid out in the traditional style. Built in 1726 by Abbot Alberich Beusch, the abbot's house served as a summer residence for him and his successors and as a place to receive guests. On the upper floor of the abbot's house, you'll find yourself in a charming living and study area, furnished with period pieces. An animated film projected onto the panelled
Admission Free of charge Stately summer residence of the head of the abbey Stroll through the abbot's garden at Wettingen Abbey, and imagine how the abbot once received his guests here. The garden extends over three terraces. Stone steps, walls, perennial beds and trellises give the "Gnädig-Herren-Garten" (as it is also called in Wettingen sources) a Mediterranean flair. The abbot's garden (or prelate's garden) was moved several times in the history of the abbey. At one time it was even located on the small island in the Limmat, until it was laid out at its present location as the garden of
Discussion Lab Admission Museum entrance fee Registration Not required (recommended for schools) Hundreds of questions in one room Built around 1600, the Parlatorium was one of the few rooms in the abbey where speaking was once permitted. Today, Museum Aargau invites visitors here to engage in conversation about faith, power and knowledge – and poses hundreds of questions on these topics. Choose one of them and embark on a journey of discovery through the Parlatorium: through conversation, play, or via interactive text, image and film installations. The exhibition was developed in collaboration
Permanent exhibition Admission Museum entrance fee 0 A place of meditation with a significant series of stained-glass windows The well-preserved cloister, with its Romanesque and Gothic tracery, evokes the tranquillity that once characterised life within these walls. Small gravestones of monks buried here are set into the flagstone floor. At the heart of the cloister lies the idyllic cloister garden. The cycle of stained-glass windows in the cloister is particularly valuable. Private donors, friendly abbeys and the Swiss cantons have all donated these significant cabinet windows to Wettingen Abbey
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Events
Events and publicguided tours
Events and public guided tours
WINTER CLOSURE
Hallwyl Castle will be closed from November 2026 to March 2027 (winter closure). We look forward to welcoming you from 26 March 2027.
Experience Hallwyl Castle! Events and public guided tours take place regularly at the castle.
