Abbaye d'Hauterive
Origin of the name Abbaye d'Hauterive
Latin charters call it « abbatia sancte Maria de Altaripa », the abbey of Saint Mary, and German texts « Altenryf ».[1]
Founding of Abbaye d'Hauterive
Guillaume de Glâne founded the abbey between 1132 and 1137 in a bend of the Sarine, south-west of Fribourg, and later entered it as a lay brother. The first monks came from Cherlieu, in northern Burgundy. The founder died in 1143 and is buried in the abbey church. The abbey reached its peak in the 12th and early 13th centuries, when it held nine granges, grain mills and a fulling mill. It is the oldest Cistercian abbey still active in Switzerland.[1][2][3]
History of Abbaye d'Hauterive
1132-1137. Guillaume de Glâne founds the abbey with monks from Cherlieu. The bishop of Lausanne gives his consent in 1137.[1][2]
1138. On 25 February the abbey is consecrated. Pope Innocent II confirms it four years later, in 1142.[1][2]
1157. The Zähringen take Hauterive under their protection and grant it customs privileges.[1][2]
Around 1162. A new church and the Romanesque cloister are consecrated (completed around 1160, according to another source).[1][2]
1182. The burghers of Fribourg obtain the right to be buried at the abbey, which also owns a house in the town.[1]
1185. Hauterive founds its daughter abbey of Kappel.[1][2]
1261. The convent of nuns of La Maigrauge, in Fribourg, is placed under the authority of the abbot of Hauterive.[1]
1320-1328. Abbot Pierre Dives has the choir rebuilt in Gothic style, with a large window, and tracery windows opened onto the cloister.[1][2]
1341. The abbey enters a co-burghership with Fribourg. The town becomes its advocate before 1391, and for good in 1452, after the counts of Neuchâtel and of Aarberg.[1][2]
1386. The Bernese plunder the abbey during the Sempach war, and again in 1448, during the Savoy war.[1][2]
1418. On his way back from the Council of Constance, Pope Martin V grants Abbot Pierre d'Affry and his successors the right to wear the pontifical insignia.[1][2]
1578. A fire ravages the abbey. Rebuilding lasts until 1582.[1][2]
1616. Guillaume Moënnat becomes abbot. He also reforms La Maigrauge and La Fille-Dieu.[1][2]
1715. Abbot Henri de Fivaz starts the Baroque rebuilding of the conventual buildings (in 1716, to plans by Franz Beer, according to another source). The work ends in 1770 under Bernard-Emmanuel de Lenzbourg.[1][2]
1848. The canton secularises the abbey. Its archives and library, the largest collection of medieval manuscripts in western Switzerland, are moved to Fribourg.[1][2][3]
1859. The cantonal teachers' college moves into the buildings and stays until 1940. An agricultural school had been there since 1850.[1][2][3]
1884. After a fire a long restoration begins, including the major campaign of 1903 to 1913.[2][3]
1939. Monks from Wettingen-Mehrerau settle again at Hauterive.[1][2][3]
1973. Hauterive regains the rank of abbey.[1][2]
2021. A complete restoration of the abbey church begins. It is completed in 2025.[3]
Population of Abbaye d'Hauterive
Sources and references: [1][2]
| Late 12th century | 30 to 40 monks, and 50 lay brothers until the mid-13th century |
| 1811 | 10 fathers and 6 brothers |
| 1847 | 16 fathers and 2 brothers |
| 2003 | 8 priests and 16 brothers |
| 2024 | 13 monks and 2 oblate brothers |
Historic sites in Abbaye d'Hauterive
Abbey church. The Romanesque nave dates from 1150-1160, the Gothic facade from about 1250 and the choir from 1320-1328, lit by a hexagonal tracery window with stained glass. The chapel of Saint Nicholas dates from 1320-1322. The bell tower has been given back its 16th-century form.[1][2]
Choir stalls. The late Gothic stalls were made under Abbot Jean Philibert (1472-1488).[1]
Cloister. The Romanesque cloister was remodelled in Rayonnant Gothic between 1320 and 1328.[1][2]
Baroque buildings. The three wings of the quadrangle were completed in 1722 (east wing), 1748 (south wing, with the refectory and library) and 1768 (west guest wing), whose main facade bears the arms of Abbot Bernard-Emmanuel de Lenzbourg. The guesthouse dates from 1732 and the gatehouse from about 1775.[2]
Chapel of Saint-Loup. Known as the strangers' chapel, it dates from the 13th century, was altered in the 18th century and is now a dwelling.[2]
Outbuildings. A barn and byre of 1594, a north gateway of 1611, and a mill and forge from the 1760s surround the abbey. On the right bank, in the municipality of Bois-d'Amont, the farm of La Souche (1758 and 1761) bears the arms of two abbots on its gable.[2]
Site of national importance. The ISOS inventory credits the complex with exceptional qualities of setting and exceptional historical and architectural qualities.[2]
Remains in Abbaye d'Hauterive
Scriptorium and library. The abbey's scriptorium was active from the mid-12th to the 14th century. Plundering and fires, including that of 1578, caused losses. The remaining manuscripts left the abbey in 1848.[1]
Granges and mills. The nine granges produced milk in the Prealps, grain on the Plateau and wine on the slopes above Lake Geneva. One of them stood on the plateau of Grangeneuve. A paper mill is recorded in 1445.[1][2]
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Hauterive (abbaye) » (Ernst Tremp), version du 29.11.2007
- Office fédéral de la culture, Inventaire fédéral des sites construits (ISOS), « Hauterive » (n° 1681), 3e version, août 2024
- État de Fribourg, Service des biens culturels, « Hauterive, une abbaye cistercienne au prisme des restaurations »
Other villages near Abbaye d'Hauterive
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