The monastery square is of central importance for Mariastein in every respect, it is the calling card of the place of pilgrimage.
However, it does not meet current and future requirements in any way.
After the Canton of Solothurn effectively abolished Mariastein Monastery in 1874 and sold the monastery property, it restored the monastery under state law in 1970/71. However, the square in front of the monastery initially remained the property of the canton, but years later it was transferred to the Metzerlen-Mariastein municipality, which functionally restored the square and still manages it as a parking lot today.
The monastery and the Metzerlen-Mariastein municipality worked together to find solutions and held a competition in accordance with OECD standards. Landscape architect Ludivine Gragy and architects Katharina Ehrenklau and Julia Hemmerling won the competition with their design “Maria im Stein – Der Klosterplatz als Gastgeber”.
The square – with 7,000 square metres about the size of a football pitch – has a highly integrative and identity-forming effect as a meeting place for the people of the southern Leimen Valley, the Schwarzbubenland, and the entire border region of Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn, Jura, Aargau (Fricktal), Alsace and Markgräflerland in southern Baden-Württemberg.
Many people in this border region, on both sides of the border, associate this place with good memories of encounters, leisure, nature and landscape. The place has a close connection to the term ‘home’.
Organizational chart (PDF)
Information on the site design (as of August 2024) (PDF)
Investment contribution
Investment contribution to the Mariastein Monastery in Metzerlen-Mariastein for the redesign of the monastery square; approval of a guarantee credit; message and draft of the government council to the Solothurn cantonal council of 20th of September 2022, RRB No. 2022/1442 (PDF)
Media release: Cantonal contribution for the redesign of the Mariastein monastery square
On the 21st of December 2022, the Solothurn cantonal council approved the government’s application for an ‘investment contribution to the Mariastein Monastery in Metzerlen-Mariastein for the redesign of the monastery square; approval of a commitment credit of 2.375 million’ with 71 votes in favour, 21 against and 4 abstentions.