Guided Tours
The Engelberg Monastery warmly invites all those interested to take a public guided tour and experience an atmosphere that inspires reflection.
Monks of the community, as well as staff members, share cultural and historical insights into the monastery’s rich past, along with glimpses into the daily rhythm of Benedictine life.
Discover our culture!
We kindly ask you to book the tour in advance directly here or via ticketino.com.
Information about the monastery tour
The public guided tours of the monastery take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, except on public holidays (including cantonal holidays for Obwalden).
- •Meeting point at the monastery gate (Pforte)
- •Admission from 15:45
- •Start is at 16:00
- •Duration approx. 1 hour
- •Max. 24 participants
- •Language: German (English and French available with written text)
- •English and French available with written text
- •The church offers barrier-free access for wheelchair users. Inside the monastery, however, there is no lift
If liturgical celebrations take place in the monastery church, a guided tour including the monastery church cannot always be guaranteed.
Admission prices
- •Adults: CHF 12.00
- •Students/learners aged 16 and over: CHF 8.00
- •Children (12 - 16 years): CHF 6.00
- •Children up to 12 years accompanied by their parents: free of charge
Groups of 15 persons or more
- •We offer individual group tours for groups of 15 people or more
- •Culture à la carte for groups: We put together a varied program for those interested in culture
- •The Abbey’s Reception team will be happy to assist you with planning.
Brief Description – Public Tours
The monastery tour presents more than 900 years of history with visits to various historic rooms in the public area. Highlights include the Baroque Hall, the Guest Refectory, and the Monastery Church.
A special highlight is the exhibition room, where 26 manuscripts from the original collection of the Engelberg Abbey Library are displayed. Many of these manuscripts and books were produced by the Engelberg monks themselves in the 12th century.
Virtual tour
Get an overview of the Engelberg monastery. We invite you on a tour of the Benedictine monastery.
Buildings and Rooms
The monastery church and the central complex of the Benedictine Monastery of Engelberg were built after the third monastery fire in 1729. After eleven years of construction, the monks were able to move into their new home.
The Baroque quadrangle includes the church with sacristy and library (north), the guest wing with the monastery gate (west), the cloister wing (east), the southern wing with the festival hall, refectories, common rooms, and kitchen.
Most of today’s building structure dates back to the first half of the 18th century. The slate-covered corridors and passageways also stem from this period.
The monastery church, which also serves as the parish church of Engelberg, was extensively restored between 2005 and 2007, with great attention to both Baroque furnishings and historical authenticity.
On the west gallery of the church stands the largest organ in Switzerland: 9,097 sounding pipes and 137 stops. Its origins go back to 1877. On the left side of the choir stalls is a small organ that Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy himself played during his visit to Engelberg in 1851.
Since its beginnings, the monastery has been dedicated to the education of young people. In 1909, the monastery school received federal recognition for its Matura (Swiss high school diploma). Between 1970 and 1987, the school was expanded, and since 1995, girls have also been admitted to the boarding school.
Today, the boarding school is open to boys and girls attending either the monastery’s Gymnasium (high school) or the secondary school (IOS) run by the municipality of Engelberg, which is housed in the monastery buildings.
The Benedictine monastery played a leading role in founding Switzerland’s first Sportmittelschule (sports middle school) in 1995. Today, the Stiftsschule Engelberg offers a high school education leading up to the achievement of the bilingual Matura (German/English) and the International Baccalaureate (IB).
