Renewal monastery square arcades and courtyard Einsiedeln, 2020

The two-winged arcades on the Einsiedeln monastery square were built from 1743 to 1747 as completion of the new baroque building of the monastery church. They consist of a supporting wall made of sandstone (which is important for the western front of the monastery and the square), two weather-proofed arcades with added corner pavilions and wooden ark fittings. Even though today’s arcades look uniform, they date from different centuries. During the restructuring of the monastery and the main square, as much of the historic original substance was preserved and reused as possible.
Ground anchors made with minimal intervention relieve the sloping back wall from the earth pressure. As a protection against moisture penetration, carpenters first carefully removed the wooden storefront and subsequently put them on new bearings and a base plate with drainage. The natural and artificial stone fronts were completely cleaned, missing pieces were cautiously remodelled and newly grouted. To achieve a uniform overall appearance, the archway roofs, until now made of metal sheet, were remade of plain tiles. In the simple styling of the baroque storefront, the expended interior construction from the 20th century was replaced by wood from the monastery’s forest. It had first been intended to restore the north and south arcades in the initial sense with the original baroque pieces. But during the process, the decision was made to restore the original spatial situation in the north arcades while creating a new covered pilgrim shelter in the south arcades. The restoration work took place in close collaboration with the office of preservation of historical monuments; the craftsmen of the monastery’s workshop executed most of the work.