page_title: Münsterhof
section_title: Sights and activities
hierarchical_section_title: Münsterhof / Sights and activities
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Das Fraumünster beim Münsterhof in Zürich, Ansicht vom Grossmünsterplatz, im Vordergrund die Münsterbrücke.English: Fraumünster at the Münsterhof square in Zürich (Switzerland), as seen from Grossmünsterplatz, Münsterbrücke crossing Limmat river in the foreground. This is an image of a cultural property of national significance in Switzerland with KGS number 7863
context_page_description: Münsterhof is a town square situated in the Lindenhof quarter in the historical center of Zürich, Switzerland. Münsterhof is the largest town square within the Altstadt of Zürich, and is surrounded by medieval buildings. The area forms part of the southern extension of the Quaianlagen promenades of Zürich's lakefront.
context_section_description: The main sights are the Fraumünster church (first mentioned in 853 AD) and art museum Zunfthaus zur Meisen, which houses the porcelain and faience collection of the Swiss National Museum. There are restaurants and cafés at Münsterhof, including Zunfthaus zur Waag, Zeughauskeller, and Sprüngli at nearby Paradeplatz.
  The equestrian monument in front of the Fraumünster church at Münsterbrücke was created by Hermann Haller. It was unveiled on 6 April 1937 by the Kämbel guild, aiming to rehabilitate Hans Waldmann, mayor of Zürich from 1482 to 1489 and their former dean, who they proposed had been the victim of a judicial murder. 
  The equestrian statue became the subject of controversy for artistic, political and historical reasons.
  On 14 March 2004, the Katharina von Zimmern memorial was inaugurated at the former cloister of the Fraumünster Abbey, initiated by the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster. 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, to remember the last princess Abbess's decision that enabled the peaceful introduction of the Reformation in Zürich on 8 December 1524.
  On the ground floor of the cloister a banner is engraved:  "Die Stadt vor Unruhe und Umgemach bewahren und tun, was Zürich lieb und dienlich ist."  (English: To preserve the city of riots and misfortune, and to do what is nice and helpful to the city of Zürich.) These were the words of Katharina von Zimmern on occasion of the surrender of the Fraumünster Abbey to the city's magistrates during the Reformation in Zürich.
  Paul Bodmer's fresco related to the history of the abbey are also a very popular touristic destination situated in the abbey's cloister.
  Beginning in 1999, Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster (Fraumünster society) organized every three years the Mittelalter Spectaculum, a medieval funfair, at the Münsterhof square.
caption: Fraumünster church and its courtyard as seen from the Limmatquai
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