Princely abbeys · Other imperial lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Einsiedeln

Einsiedeln, the great pilgrimage abbey of Our Lady in the dark wood, has been an imperial abbey with free election since Otto I (947).

Henry II gave it the forest of the Alp, Sihl and Biber valleys in 1018, and Otto I the shore estates of Pfaeffikon and Wollerau and the island of Ufenau (965). Its southern border with the herdsmen of Schwyz is the oldest quarrel in the Alps (the Marchenstreit): emperors ruled for the abbey in 1114 and 1143, but Schwyz kept clearing and grazing north of the Mythen. The advocacy belongs to the lords of Rapperswil, the abbot's own family.

Who holds it

Name
Ulrich I of Rapperswil
Title
Abbot of Einsiedeln
Since
1192
Confidence
medium

Abbot 1192-1206 (de.wikipedia list), between Werner II of Toggenburg (1173-1192) and Berthold of Waldsee (1206-1213). He is of the house of (Alt-)Rapperswil, the family that holds the abbey's advocacy, so lordship and advocacy are in one kin.

What it holds

  • The Waldstatt of Einsiedeln: the forest lordship of the Alp, Sihl and Biber valleys (1018)
  • Pfaeffikon, Wollerau and the island of Ufenau on Lake Zurich (965), and estates at Staefa, Maennedorf, Meilen and Uerikon
  • Scattered estates in the Aargau, Zug, Lucerne, Bern, Solothurn, Alsace, the Breisgau and Vorarlberg
  • The southern pastures (Alpthal, Iberg) claimed by the abbey and grazed by Schwyz

How it was acquired

Free election and imperial immediacy from Otto I (947); the shore estates (965); the forest grant of Henry II (1018). The abbot's princely rank is dated variously; HLS does not give a date for it.

How things stand that morning

The abbey holds its forest and shore estates; the southern border is disputed in arms on the ground; the abbot and the advocate are kinsmen.

Wealth

Pilgrims to the Black Madonna's chapel; cattle and pasture; rents from Lake Zurich vineyards and farms.

Threats

  • Schwyz's herdsmen and their clearings
  • Advocates who treat the abbey's lands as family property

Advocates and rivals

The lords of Rapperswil as advocates (Kastvogte); the free men of Schwyz in the Marchenstreit (in the early thirteenth century the Rapperswil brothers, the abbey and Schwyz fight with fire, robbery and killing; in 1217 Rudolf of Habsburg's arbitration moves the line in Schwyz's favour).

Places of note

  • Abbey of Einsiedeln: Imperial abbey and pilgrimage
  • Ufenau: Island on Lake Zurich, the abbey's since 965

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The grants and the Marchenstreit are well documented (HLS, de.wikipedia); the line of the disputed pastures in 1200 is not pinned.

On the map: The contested zone is drawn as three modern municipalities; the real disputed line ran across the high pastures north of the Mythen and moved over time.

Primary sources for Empire

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.

Sources and studies

  1. Einsiedeln (Kloster) (HLS)
  2. Kloster Einsiedeln (de.wikipedia)
  3. Marchenstreit (de.wikipedia)
  4. Liste der Aebte des Klosters Einsiedeln (de.wikipedia)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.