History

After its foundation, the cloister was inhabited by Augustinian nuns. It was first mentioned in a document of 1261, in which Pope Alexander IV attested their privileges. From 1278 it was put under the control of the Dominican nuns and remained a convent until its closing in the course of secularization in 1802/04. Prince Herman Friedrich Otto von Hohenzollern-Hechingen became the new owner.

Lithograph after Count Stillfried, around 1840
The cloister in a photograph before the fire in 1875

The nuns were allowed to stay in the convent until the end of their lives. The last nun at the cloister of Stetten was Gundisalva Utz, who died at the age of 91 on 18.1.1867. Her gravestone was moved to the north-east side of the building in the 20th century. The inscription refers to the venerable church as "Stetten im Gnadenthal", as it is also called.

Gravestone of Gundisalva Utz, last nun at the convent of Stetten

The convent then led an unfortunate existence as a barracks of the prince and was later rented to accommodate a shoe manufactory.

In 1898 the convent buildings were destroyed by a fire in the factory – the cause of which could not be clarified.

Photograph of the destroyed convent building

After an interior renovation during 1921 - 1923, the church was committed to the Catholic parish of St. John the Baptist Hechingen-Stetten – today the Roman Catholic parish of St. Luzius Hechingen – through Friedrich Wilhelm Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in 1990.