Uri association wins 2026 Swiss Heritage garden prize

The Kulturkloster Altdorf association in Uri has won the 2026 Schulthess Garden Prize from the Swiss Heritage Society, SRF reported.

The award recognises the association’s work caring for the public garden and the wider former Capuchin monastery property in Altdorf. Since 2020, it has organised cultural events, seminars and weddings, and run a monastery café.

The garden lies slightly above the centre of Altdorf on a sunny western slope. It is terraced with dry-stone walls, while flowers, herbs and trees are cultivated across the grounds. Vines grow just below the former monastery.

Capuchin friars settled north of the Gotthard Pass for the first time in 1581 and founded the monastery in Altdorf. The last six Capuchins left in 2009. The former monastery is owned by the Korporation Uri.

Fabian Ziegler, who leads the garden work, said the garden was valuable for biodiversity. The association also preserves rare plants and maintains suitable conditions for animals, he said. Ziegler lives in the former monastery with his partner, Johanna Brücker, and their two teenage children. Brücker coordinates the association’s activities and looks after guests.

Previous prize winners listed by the Swiss Heritage Society include the English Gardens in Bern in 2024, Kannenfeldpark in Basel in 2025, the alpine botanical garden in Meyrin in 2019 and Bally Park in the cantons of Solothurn and Aargau in 2016.