Fraumünster

Imperial Abbey of Fraumünster
Reichskloster Fraumünster
853–1524
The Fraumünster
StatusImperial Abbey
CapitalFraumünster Abbey
Common languagesHigh Alemannic
GovernmentTheocracy
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Founded by Louis
    the German

21 July 853
• Granted market, toll and
    minting rights by Henry III

1045
• Imp. immediacy
    confirmed by Frederick II

1218
• Rudolf Brun indep. mayor,
    established guild laws

1336
• Dissolved in
    Zwinglian Reforms

30 November 1524
• Buildings destroyed
1898
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Alamannia
Reichenau Abbey
Old Swiss Confederacy
Today part ofSwitzerland

The Fraumünster (German pronunciation: [fʁaʊ̯ˈmʏnstɐ]; lit. in English: Women's Minster) is a church in Zurich, Switzerland, which was built on the remains of a former abbey for aristocratic women and which was founded in 853 by Louis the German for his daughter Hildegard. He endowed the Benedictine convent with the lands of Zurich, Uri, and the Albis forest, and granted the convent immunity, placing it under his direct authority. Today, it belongs to the Evangelical Reformed Church of the canton of Zurich and is one of the four main churches of Zürich, the others being the Grossmünster, Prediger and St. Peter's churches.