The Mariaberg Monastery in Rorschach on Lake Constance
is the largest late gothic monastery complex in Switzerland.
It was built between 1487 and 1489 by Abbot Ulrich Rösch. The power-political struggle between the city of St. Gallen and the prince abbot also had serious consequences for the
monastery building - shortly before its completion it was destroyed and only later rebuilt.
The building, which was never used as a monastery, passed to the Canton of St. Gallen in 1864, who founded the Mariaberg Teachers' Seminary. From 1969 to 1978 it was extensively renovated according to art historical findings.
At the main entrance on the left side there is a statue of St. John Nepomuk
On the right a statue of St. Borromeo
A strict iconographic program of keystones adorns the cloister and refectory, the tracery windows are almost all different from each other, many of the original console stones are still preserved, although several with damage from the iconoclasm of 1529. The northern arm of the cloister shows various ribbed vaults.
The chapter hall, which served as a chapel for 3 centuries, bears rich painting from the 60s of the 16th century.
On the upper floor, during the renovation in the 1970s, the columns and murals of the former Abbatial Reception Hall came to light. They date from around 1540.
Remarkable are the ceiling paintings and stucco work in the former abbey chambers, which were created in the last phase of St.Gallen Abbey, at the end of the 18th century.
The attic - made entirely of wood without iron nails - dates almost entirely from the construction period.
The Pädagogische Hochschule St.Gallen is located in the building complex.
