Katharina von Zimmern

Katharina von Zimmern (1478 – 17 August 1547), also known as the imperial abbess of Zürich and Katharina von Reischach, was the last abbess of the Fraumünster Abbey in Zürich.

Early life Katharina von Zimmern was born in 1478 in Messkirch into the rich southern German noble family

Abbess of the Fraumünster Abbey In 1496, when Katharina was 18 years old, she was elected to be the abbess, and now the head of the large monastery's household. Being still a Benedictine abbey, the noble women had a free life. Extensive lands with many subjects and people were entrusted to Katharina von Zimmern, supported by the management of an experienced staff, but the main responsibility lay with Katharina. She had all the rights to act, to buy and sell goods, as well the old prerogative of mercy in the city and the right to elect the mayor, even to grant pardons on death sentences. Katharina von Zimmern reorganized the finances of the abbey, tried to regain the old comprehensive right of coinage of the city, and was very active in construction and art.

During her 28-year tenure as abbess, Katharina was rarely called in the council records of the city, because her reign brought no complaints within the city of Zürich. Unlike her predecessors, she led the abbey successfully and with tact and discretion. In 1503 four young noble women entered the convent, so that their number was increased to seven. The abbey also included a school which was rebuilt under Katharina. Although the abbesses in the late Middle Ages largely had lost political influence, Katharina was still nominally the city mistress of Zürich and thus the first representative of the city, i.e. all official guests were first greeted by her.

Living in transition times, Katharina von Zimmern allowed Oswald Myconius, a close friend of Zwingli, to teach Latin to the women at the cathedral school . In January 1519 Ulrich Zwingli began at the Grossmünster church to put the Gospel into the center of the mass and to translate the Bible into the German language. Zwingli wrote about Katharina von Zimmern: "She belongs to the party of Christ and does not refuse any Support to me." In 1523, the Reformation events themselves came headlong into the city of Zürich. After disputations in the town hall, the churches were cleared and most of the sculptures of saints were stored in the Wasserkirche. In the adjacent Dominican convent, the city council gave permission to close the monasteries. Most of the women left the Fraumünster Abbey, and the four remaining noble women of the convent went back to their families. Katharina remained with her assistant alone in the monastery and, without a monastic community in the midst of a reformed city, it was impossible to continue a monastery life corresponding to the Benedictine rules. Later she was mentioned as the owner of the Bracken house at Oberdorfstrasse in Zürich and in 1540 she sold the Bracken and bought the larger Mohrenkopf house at Neumarkt 13

In a document of the city council of Zürich, Katharina von Zimmern was mentioned as mediator related to a financial affair between the city of Luzern, Aegeri, and the Fraumünster church on 31 July 1545. She was still highly respected and was in the account books of the city listed as "Eptissin" (abbess). Her daughter Anna married Heinrich von Mandach, who owned the house next door at Neumarkt. On 17 August 1547, Katharina von Zimmern died at home. For a long time the date of death was not known, although it was listed in an attachment in the council book.

Katharina von Zimmern memorial On 14 March 2004, the Katharina von Zimmern memorial was inaugurated at the former cloister of the Fraumünster Abbey. Anna-Maria Bauer, a sculptor from Zürich, created a sculpture that consists of 37 copper blocks that are layered into a compact square. The shape of the sculpture refers to the shape of an altar table or burial and shines in its simplicity as a symbol of timelessness. On the floor a banner was engraved:

In 1923 the Katharinenweg street in Zürich-Enge was named after Katharina von Zimmern. In 2000 Katharina von Zimmern was honored by the Fraumünster society, and a plaque marks the house at Neumarkt 13 where she once lived.