Introduction

This introduction provides information on the content and structure of the ‘Database of Church Reuse in Switzerland’. The ‘Database’ menu item provides access to the database. The ‘Publications’ menu item contains literature about church reuse. The ‘Weblinks’ menu item provides links to comparable websites containing databases or documentation on church reuse, particularly abroad.

Content of the database

The ‘Database of Church Reuse in Switzerland’ records churches, chapels and monasteries in Switzerland that have been reused since around the year 2000 or are scheduled for reuse. It does not include vicarages, parish halls, parish centres and other church-owned properties, even though these are also affected by the issue of repurposing today. Churches, chapels and monasteries that were deconsecrated earlier (for example during the Reformation or the French Revolution) are only included if their use has changed in recent times. The focus is on current examples and the solutions found for their reuse.

As of August 2026, the database comprises 238 properties (127 churches, 43 chapels, 53 monasteries, 8 chapels in institutions, 6 educational centres, 1 seminary). The database is not exhaustive, but it provides an insight into the subject and offers a representative overview. Exhaustiveness is not possible, given that new properties are constantly being added and, furthermore, not all properties are reported on in the media, which is why we are unaware of them.

Search options

The database offers the following search options: by location, canton, denomination, building type, ownership, building interventions, form of use and type of use. The database can therefore be filtered according to individual search criteria. The link in the ‘Name’ section allows you to open the individual property records for further information. The content of this information is described in the following sections.

Building data

The records contain the following data for each property: denomination, building type, year of construction, architect, town/canton, street and GPS coordinates. The ‘Google Maps’ and ‘Swisstopo’ links open the respective maps, on which the property’s location is marked. The 238 properties (as of August 2026) are distributed across the denominations as follows: 98 Roman Catholic, 59 Evangelical Reformed, 4 Christian Catholic, 21 Evangelical Methodist, 28 New Apostolic, 28 others.

Reuse

The fact sheets provide the following information on reuse: year of reuse, ownership, building interventions, form of use, type of use, brief information. Comments on this information can be found in the following sections.

Year of reuse

In many cases, a period is specified under ‘Year of reuse’. Where the reuse process passes through various phases that also differ in substance, these are separated by slashes. A slash after the last date indicates that the reuse process has not yet been completed.

Ownership

With regard to ownership, the database distinguishes between the following six possibilities: 1. Grant of building lease: The previous owner remains the owner of the plot but transfers to the building lease holder the right to use the plot for an extended period, whether for a new building, the existing building or a combination of both. The leaseholder pays the owner a ground rent. 2. Return: for example, to the state, if the state was already the owner of the property, as in the case of the Capuchin monasteries. 3. Foundation: Transfer of ownership of a property to a foundation, for example by way of a gift. 4. Unchanged: no change in ownership status. 5. Association: Transfer of ownership of a property to an association, for example by way of a gift. 6. Sale: Transfer of ownership of a property to a new owner by way of sale.

Building interventions

Regarding Building interventions, the database distinguishes between the following six options: 1. Demolition: Demolition of a property without replacement, for example due to dilapidation. 2. Demolition/new construction: demolition of a property followed by the development of a new building on the plot. 3. New construction: construction of a new building in the vicinity of a property, on a plot belonging to it. 4. Transformation: minor or major transformation. 5. Transformation/new construction: transformation of the existing property and construction of a new building in the vicinity. 6. Unchanged: no structural alterations.

Form of use

Regarding the form of use, the database distinguishes between the following four options: 1. Extended use: primarily for the previous owner’s own use, but also for new forms of use compared to previously. Additionally, use by temporary tenants. 2. Third-party use: no longer used by the previous owner, but exclusively by the new occupier. 3. Unchanged: applies to properties where no decision has yet been made regarding reuse. 4. Shared use: use by the previous occupier, together with partners. The partners are permanent tenants, in contrast to ‘Extended use’, where they are temporary tenants. For example, the partners rent individual parts of the property for a longer period.

Type of use

Regarding the type of use, the database distinguishes between the following eleven options: 1. Education: use as a school classroom or for a university. 2. Hospitality: use as a café, restaurant, hotel or conference hotel. 3. Commercial: use by a commercial enterprise or company. 4. Church: Continued use by the previous owner or by another religious community. 5. Culture: Use as a music centre, theatre, museum, gallery, library or cultural centre. 6. Open (not yet determined): Type of use has not yet been determined. 7. Social: Use as a neighbourhood centre or by organisations supporting people with special needs. 8. Sport: Use as a climbing centre. 9. Government: Use for parliamentary purposes. 10. Miscellaneous: various types of use coexisting. Applies to almost a third of the properties. 11. Residential: conversion of a church into residential accommodation, demolition of a church and construction of new flats, construction of new residential accommodation adjacent to the existing property.

Short information

The short information provides a quick overview of the measures undertaken as part of the reuse.

Status of information

The ‘Status of information’ field indicates when a property was added to the database and when the entry was last updated. Reuse is a process that often takes years. This necessitates ongoing revision and updating of the database. Where the update date is the same as the creation date, this may mean that the entry is still up to date, or that no update has yet been carried out.

Images

The number of images varies from property to property. Clicking on the thumbnail opens the full-size image and displays the image credit. Some image credits are missing from older entries, for which we apologise. For newer entries, we have obtained the image rights where necessary. We would like to thank those who have granted permission for the use of the images.

Further information

The scope of the further information varies from property to property. Some of the texts also contain information on the history and architecture of the property. However, the focus is on the process of reuse and on how the property is currently being used.

Web links

The ‘Web links’ section lists links to websites offering further information on the properties in the database. These are: 1. Art Monuments of Switzerland Online: a database maintained by the Society for Swiss Art History, containing the contents of the volumes of Art Monuments of Switzerland published to date. 2. Helvetia Sacra: a reference work on Catholic ecclesiastical institutions in Switzerland. All monasteries in the database include a link to this reference work, which provides further information on the history of the respective monasteries. 3. Websites of the institutions that currently use the churches, chapels and monasteries. 4. Further links: For some individual properties, additional links are provided, such as Architekturbibliothek, Vitrosearch, Kirchenvisite.

Publications

Under the ‘Publications’ menu item, you will find publications exclusively on the topic of church reuse, organised according to various criteria.

About us

Work on the ‘Database of Church Reuse in Switzerland’ began in 2015 in the run-up to the First Swiss Religious Heritage Day, with the exhibition ‘Church Reuse in Switzerland’, which presented 42 reused churches, chapels and monasteries on ten display panels. In a slightly modified form, the panels were also published in the book ‘Kirchenumnutzung. Der Blick aufs Ganze’ (2015). For the Second Swiss Religious Heritage Day in 2017, the present online database was created, with the material from 2015, expanded to include around 200 properties. Updates and minor additions were made in subsequent years. The database underwent a significant upgrade in 2023 with the improvement of its search functions. Since then, the data has been filterable according to nine criteria, including refined reuse criteria (ownership, building interventions, form of use, type of use). This required corresponding adjustments to the records; further updates to existing entries were also necessary, and new properties were added – work on which has been ongoing since 2023. Since the summer of 2026, all data sheets have been brought up to the same standard; furthermore, the database is available in both French and English versions.

From 2015 to 2026, the following individuals (in chronological order) contributed to the database to varying degrees: Johannes Stückelberger, Ann-Kathrin Seyffer, Fabian Felder, Vera Scartazzini, Béatrice Gauvain, Nathalie Annen, Sara Egger, Sina von Aesch, Nora Meier, Francine Bosson, Sabina Galeazzi, Hanna Weber, Janina Brunner.

Work on the ‘Database of Church Reuse in Switzerland’ continues. The topic remains highly relevant. The Swiss Religious Heritage Day team therefore believes that the subject requires ongoing academic monitoring and documentation. Johannes Stückelberger remains responsible for the database. He is supported by Janina Brunner. Her post, funded by third-party grants from the Swiss Religious Heritage Day, is based in the Department of Architectural History and Heritage Conservation at the Institute of Art History, University of Bern.

Contact

Information on the reuse of churches, monasteries and chapels not yet included in the database, as well as comments on existing entries, are welcome: schweizerkirchenbautag.theol@unibe.ch

August 2026, Johannes Stückelberger