Hallwyl Castle

Hire rooms for weddings and events

Hallwyl Castle rents out rooms for weddings, celebrations and events: get married in a moated castle, celebrate your birthday in a historical ambience or host a drinks reception in the castle courtyar

 
Wettingen Abbey

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IMPORTANT NOTES FOR VISITS IN 2025 The abbey church is closed in 2025 for restoration, the stained glass windows in the cloister are not accessible The museum is open from 4 April to 2 November 2025 (

 
Hallwyl Castle

Opening hours and entrance fees

Opening hours: castle and bistro 1 April to 2 November 2025 Monday closed Tuesday – Sunday, public holidays* 10 am – 5 pm * Open on the following public holidays: Easter (Good Friday, Easter Sunday an

 
Lenzburg Castle

Opening hours and entrance fees

Opening hours: castle and bistro 1 April to 2 November 2025 Monday closed Tuesday – Sunday, public holidays* 10 am – 5 pm * Open on the following public holidays: Easter (Good Friday, Easter Sunday an

 
Wildegg Castle

Opening hours and entrance fees

Opening hours: castle, garden and bistro 1 April to 2 November 2025 Monday closed Tuesday – Sunday, public holidays* 10 am – 5 pm * Open on the following public holidays: Easter (Good Friday, Easter S

 
Habsburg Castle

Opening hours and entrance fees

Opening hours castle Summer season 1 April to 2 November 2025 Monday closed Tuesday – Sunday, public holidays* 10 am – 5 pm * Open on the following public holidays: Easter (Good Friday, Easter Sunday

 
Vindonissa Legionary Trail

Getting here by car, train and bus

Directions to Vindonissa Legionary Trail Address Legionärspfad Vindonissa – Museum Aargau Königsfelderstrasse 265 5210 Windisch Tel. 0848 871 200 Contact Arrival by public transport and car Arriving b

 
Königsfelden Abbey

Contact

Address Kloster Königsfelden – Museum Aargau 5210 Windisch Tel. 0848 871 200 Contact Organisation Museum Aargau Management Member Contact Dr. Marco Sigg Director E-Mail Dr. Angela Dettling Deputy Dire

 
Vindonissa Museum

Guided tours for groups

A day trip to the Vindonissa Museum is packed with highlights for groups: start an interactive adventure tour as an archaeologist, book a guided tour or discover the exhibitions on your own. All offer

 
Wildegg Castle

Contact

Address Schloss Wildegg – Museum Aargau Effingerweg 5 5103 Wildegg Tel. 0848 871 200 Send a message Organisation Museum Aargau Management Member Contact Dr. Marco Sigg Director E-Mail Dr. Angela Dettl

Gradian
Innenaufnahme Klosterkirche Wettingen (Konventkirche) mit Orgel im Hintergrund.

Abbey church

Converse and monks' church

Converse and monks' church

Wettingen Abbey church was consecrated in 1256 and rebuilt several times. It is one of the few early and high medieval abbey churches in Switzerland that have preserved their original building fabric.

Wettingen Abbey church is divided by an imposing rood screen into a spiritual and a secular area:

  • The converse church (rear part of the nave) was already open to the public when the abbey still existed. The red-brown rood screen, with its magnificent altars and paintings, provides a ceremonial setting for church services, concerts or weddings.
  • The monks' church (front section of the nave) was reserved for the monks and clergy.

The abbey church can be visited freely, and church services are held here regularly. The monks' church is part of the museum (admission fee payable). For more information, see Opening hours and admission fees.

Museum Aargau also offers guided tours for groups and schools. The church can be rented for church weddings and baptisms as well as other events (including concerts).

Exterior appearance of the abbey church

The exterior of the church still preserves much of its sober early Gothic layout from the 13th century, but shows the interventions of modern times. The portal on the porch, renewed in 1760, adds a special Baroque touch, with a group of figures of Our Lady and the founders of the order, St. Bernard and Robert of Molesme.

The ridge turret crowned by an onion dome dates from the same period. Next to the main portal is a plaque in honour of Alberich Zwyssig, composer of the Swiss Psalm and Cistercian monk.

Converse church (lay church)

The basic Gothic structure of the church can still be seen in the ribbed vaulting of the side aisles and the row of columns with pointed arches. The interior of the Romanesque-Gothic basilica has been fitted out in the Baroque style. Ornamental bands and stucco figures of saints, on the other hand, are later additions. The rich illustration follows clear rules.

The abbey owes its name and coat of arms to its founding legend (see abbey history). The large panel painting also refers to this legend. This hangs on the west wall of the lay church and depicts the "stormy sea voyage" as well as the appearance of the Stella Maris.

In the centre of each of the two side aisles is an image related to the transfer of the relics of Marianus and Getulius in 1651. In the north aisle, the grisaille painting by the artist Rudolf Schwerter from Baden, created around that time, is a direct reminder of the transfer. The anonymous painting of monumental proportions on the opposite side commemorates the 100th anniversary of the transfer. This celebration was one of the most magnificent Baroque festivities in Aargau. From this time on, the church was also open to the general public for the first time.

Also in the converse church are two stone sarcophagi of the houses of Kyburg and Habsburg, as well as floor grave slabs from the 13th century.

Monks' church

The centre of the high altar is the scene of an Assumption, against the background of light falling through the windows. The chapel altars, the abbot's throne and celebrants' seats form a coherent whole with the high altar.

Choir stalls

The richly carved choir stalls are especially celebrated. Their rectangular arrangement is entirely Renaissance. Gothic features can still be seen in the elongated robed figures beneath the column arcades. In the carvings, a humorous artist's fantasy unfolds in tendril friezes, animals, grimaces, arabesques and fruit hangings.

Bells

In the abbey church of Wettingen there are a total of eight bells that form a complete C major scale. The bells are located behind the blinds, which are clearly visible to the naked eye from the outside. In the onion dome itself there are four bells.

As is common practice, the bells strike every quarter of an hour. Swinging bells are only rung early on Saturday evenings and on Sundays, as well as on request for official occasions such as christenings, weddings for the entrance and exit of the bride and groom, or for funerals.