Regula Zweifel

Regula Zweifel, historian, born in 1950 in Meiringen (Canton of Bern), grew up in Martigny (Canton of Valais).¹ She is a former vice-director of the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum (Swiss National Museum) and its associated museum group, Musée Suisse.² She was president of the “Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster” (Fraumünster Society),³ a leading co-initiator of the “Katharinen-Turm” project marking the jubilee “500 Jahre Abteiübergabe” (500 years since the handover of the abbey)⁴ by Abbess Katharina von Zimmern, and vice-president⁵ of the associated association. She lives in Kilchberg (Canton of Zurich).

Education and career

Regula Zweifel studied history at the University of Zurich and graduated with a master’s degree (Liz. Phil I).⁶ She then completed further training in organisational development, project management and gerontology.⁷

From 1994 she worked at the Landesmuseum Zürich,⁸ first as a permanent research associate, then as head of the Aussenstellen (branch museums) section and later as vice-director.⁹

Memberships and public engagement

In 2008 Regula Zweifel joined the “Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster”, founded in 1989,¹⁰ and became its president in 2009. She remained in office until 2016 as “Hohe Fraumünster-Frau” (High Fraumünster Woman), as the official title reads.¹¹

The “Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster” sees its task as keeping alive the work and the position of power of the Fraumünster abbesses of the former convent in Zurich, and as building a bridge to the present.¹² In the Middle Ages the Fraumünster was not merely a church and parish,¹³ as it is today, but a veritable centre of power in Zurich, endowed with sovereign and seigneurial rights as well as considerable property and landholdings.¹⁴ The “Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster” traces its roots to the same historical sphere of activity as the men’s guilds in Zurich today.¹⁵ For a long time, however, it fought in vain for equal participation in the historical retrospective of the Sechseläuten parade,¹⁶ Zurich’s traditional spring festival held every year.

Under the aegis of the “Hohe Fraumünster-Frau” Regula Zweifel, progress was made towards integration. She was able to build on the persistence of her predecessors, and with a balance between confrontation and cooperation the goal was achieved.¹⁷ First as guests and officially from 2014, the Fraumünster women, in costumes modelled on medieval examples, marched in the Sechseläuten parade.¹⁸

Throughout the year, the women of the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster cultivate sociability and friendships and make charitable and cultural contributions to the City of Zurich.¹⁹ Among other things, they organise the annual medieval festival in the Münsterhof in Zurich. The annual honours for women, held in a ceremonial and public setting, are important. Those chosen are women of today and of past generations who have rendered outstanding services to society in political, economic, social or cultural respects.²⁰

Regula Zweifel is well connected²¹ and has always campaigned for equality and for the visibility of women’s influence in public space. From 2014 to 2016, in addition to her presidency of the “Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster”, she was co-vice-president and head of the office of alliance F,²² ²³ the largest Swiss umbrella organisation of women’s and gender-equality organisations.

In 2017 the Reformed Church of the City and Canton of Zurich celebrated 500 years of the Reformation.²⁴ The focus was on the Zurich reformers Ulrich (Huldrych) Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger.²⁵ Regula Zweifel and three women friends were keen to draw attention to women’s contribution to the Reformation.²⁶ During the Reformation, in 1524, Katharina von Zimmern decided to dissolve the convent and handed over the keys of her abbey, together with all sovereign and seigneurial rights and all property, to the secular authorities.²⁷ According to current historical knowledge, she thereby brought about the decisive turn towards avoiding civil-war-like conditions in Zurich, such as occurred elsewhere in this period of upheaval.²⁸

Together with Catherine Ziegler Peter, the now deceased co-founder of the “Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster”, Regula Zweifel devised the idea of an installation in public space.²⁹ In 2022, together with other co-initiators, Regula Zweifel founded the Verein Katharinen-Turm (Katharinen-Turm Association)³⁰ to advance the project. An ideas competition was launched.³¹ In place of the Fraumünster’s original second tower, a temporary tower installation was created in 2024, the jubilee year “500 Jahre Übergabe Fraumünster – Katharina von Zimmern”. The “Katharinen-Turm” is intended to make visible, symbolically, the political, economic and social actions of 29 abbesses 500 years ago and of 500 women of the present day in the City and Canton of Zurich.³²

Honour

In 2002 Regula Zweifel became Ehrenbuch-Patin (patron in the Book of Honour) for the redesign of the permanent exhibition at the Museum Bärengasse,³³ then part of the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, where she had placed the emphasis on the work of women in the fields of business administration, education and social affairs.

The Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster keeps an Ehrenbuch (Book of Honour)³⁴ for contemporary women and appoints a patron every year. It represents a kind of “growing monument” to “Zurich women of all estates, classes and professions”³⁵ who have made exceptional contributions to society.

Publications

Zweifel, Regula et al. (1999): Vernunft und Leidenschaft. Zürich 1750 bis 1800. Begegnungen, private Welten, Freiräume. Exhibition catalogue, Museum Bärengasse. Zürich: Verlag Landesmuseum, ISBN 3908025702.
Zweifel, Regula et al. (2001): Musée Suisse: acht Museen – ein Unternehmen = Musée Suisse: huit musées – une entreprise. Zürich: Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, ISBN 3908025095.
Zweifel Regula et al. (2002): Remember Swissair: 1931-2002. Exhibition newspaper/exhibition catalogue. Zürich: Schweizerisches Landesmuseum.
Zweifel, Regula et al. (2013): Rosa Gutknecht. In: Neujahrsblatt der Gesellschaft Fraumünster auf das Jahr 2013. Zürich: Edition Gilde Gutenberg.

External links

Literature by and about Regula Zweifel in the DNB
Website of the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster
Website of the Verein Katharinen-Turm

Machine translation: This article was translated automatically from the German original.

1
Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster (n.d.): Ehrenbuch. In: Website of the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster. Available online at: https://fraumuenstergesellschaft.ch/ehrungen/ehrungen-ehrenbuch (accessed on 29 July 2024). ↩︎
2
Today the Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum (Swiss National Museum), consisting of: Schweizerisches Landesmuseum Zürich, Forum Schweizer Geschichte Schwyz; Château de Prangins, and the Sammlungszentrum Affoltern am Albis. See also: https://www.nationalmuseum.ch/de (accessed on 29 July 2024). ↩︎
3
Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster (2016): Jahresbericht. Available online at: https://www.datocms-assets.com/15344/1595270686-gesellschaft-zu-fraumuenster-jahresbericht-2016.pdf (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
4
Katharina 2024. Available online at: https://katharina2024.ch/ (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
5
Website of the Verein Katharinen-Turm. Available online at: https://katharinenturm.ch/verein (accessed on 30 July 2024) ↩︎
6
Website of the Verein Katharinen-Turm. Available online at: https://katharinenturm.ch/verein (accessed on 30 July 2024) ↩︎
7
N.a. (2011): Regula Zweifel neue SJW-Stiftungsratspräsidentin. In: Klein Report, report of 1 March. Available online at: https://www.kleinreport.ch/news/regula-zweifel-neue-sjw-stiftungsratspraesidentin-64047/# (accessed on 16 August 2024). ↩︎
8
Website of the Landesmuseum Zürich. Available online at: https://www.landesmuseum.ch (accessed on 29 July 2024). ↩︎
9
Schweizerisches Landesmuseum Zürich: Jahresberichte. Available online at: https://www.e-periodica.ch/digbib/volumes?UID=jsn-001 (accessed on 28 July 2024). ↩︎
10
Also known as the Frauenzunft (women’s guild). ↩︎
11
Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster (2016): Jahresbericht. Available online at: https://www.datocms-assets.com/15344/1595270686-gesellschaft-zu-fraumuenster-jahresbericht-2016.pdf (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
12
Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster (n.d.): Wir stellen uns vor und Vorsteherschaft. In: Website of the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster. Available online at: https://fraumuenstergesellschaft.ch/ueberuns (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
13
Evangelisch-reformierte Kirchgemeinde Zürich (n.d.): Fraumünster. Available online at: https://www.fraumuenster.ch (accessed on 16 August 2024). ↩︎
14
Katharina 2024: 500 Jahre Abteiübergabe. Available online at: https://katharina2024.ch/500-jahre-jubilaum (accessed on 13 August 2024). ↩︎
15
In the Middle Ages every guild had both men and women. Only later was membership reserved for men, and women organised themselves in other organisations, some of them exclusively female. See: https://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/kultur/sechselaeuten-umzug-erstmals-mit-frauenzunft/29949172 (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
16
N.a. (n.d.): Sechseläuten. Festporträt. Available online at: https://www.sechselaeuten.ch/de/wissenswertes/festportraet (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
17
23 years after the founding of the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster; cf. Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster (2014): Jahresbericht. Available online at: https://www.datocms-assets.com/15344/1595270791-gesellschaft-zu-fraumuenster-jahresbericht2014.pdf (accessed on 31 July 2024) and Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster (2016): Jahresbericht. Available online at: https://www.datocms-assets.com/15344/1595270686-gesellschaft-zu-fraumuenster-jahresbericht-2016.pdf (accessed on 31 July 2024). ↩︎
18
Fargahi, Nina (2014): Unterwegs mit der Frauenzunft. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, article of 29 April. Available online at: https://www.nzz.ch/unterwegs-mit-der-frauenzunft-ld.89596 (accessed on 30 July 2024) ↩︎
19
Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster (n.d.): Wir stellen uns vor und Vorsteherschaft. In: Website of the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster. Available online at: https://fraumuenstergesellschaft.ch/ueberuns (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
20
Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster (n.d.): Ehrungen. In: Website of the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster. Available online at: https://fraumuenstergesellschaft.ch/ehrungen (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
21
In 2018 Regula Zweifel was managing director of the Verein 2020, which aimed to stage a third national women’s exhibition in Switzerland. See FS (2015): Dritte nationale Frauenausstellung. In: FrauenSicht, article of 24 February. Available online at: https://frauensicht.ch/lobbys/frauen/dritte-nationale-frauenausstellung/ (accessed on 30 July 2024) ↩︎
22
Website of alliance F. Available online at: https://de.alliancef.ch/ (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
23
Alliance F (2015): Jahresbericht 2015. Available online at: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5df78d85c15c2c1fc90e33f4/t/6041f2bf99863e36d6dfe28e/1614934721530/160527_Jahresbericht_Alliance_F_Web_Einzelseiten.pdf%20Jahresbericht%202015 (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
24
Ev.-ref. Landeskirche des Kantons Zürich et al. (n.d.): Website of the Verein 500 Jahre Zürcher Reformation. Available online at: http://zh-reformation.ch/ (accessed on 10 August 2024). ↩︎
25
Ev.-ref. Landeskirche des Kantons Zürich et al. (n.d.): Website of the Verein 500 Jahre Zürcher Reformation. Available online at: http://zh-reformation.ch/ (accessed on 10 August 2024). ↩︎
26
Verein Katharinen-Turm (n.d.): Vereinsgeschichte. Available online at: https://www.katharinenturm.ch/verein (accessed on 10 August 2024). ↩︎
27
Verein Katharinen-Turm (n.d.): Katharina von Zimmern. Available online at: https://www.katharinenturm.ch/katharina (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
28
Verein Katharinen-Turm (n.d.): Katharina von Zimmern. Available online at: https://www.katharinenturm.ch/katharina (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
29
Verein Katharinen-Turm (n.d.): Vereinsgeschichte. Available online at: https://www.katharinenturm.ch/verein (accessed on 10 August 2024). ↩︎
30
Verein Katharinen-Turm (n.d.): Vereinsgeschichte. Available online at: https://www.katharinenturm.ch/verein (accessed on 10 August 2024). ↩︎
31
Verein Katharinen-Turm (n.d.): Wettbewerb. Available online at: https://www.katharinenturm.ch/wettbewerb (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
32
Huber, Marius (2024): Der Katharinenturm ist etwas bescheidener geworden als angekündigt. Zu reden geben dürfte er dennoch. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, article of 10 August. Available online at: https://www.nzz.ch/zuerich/katharinenturm-altes-symbol-der-macht-von-frauen-in-zuerich-wieder-errichtet-ld.1843092 (accessed on 10 August 2024). ↩︎
33
On behalf of the City of Zurich’s cultural department, the building at Bärengasse 20 is today used in a mix of uses by a literature laboratory and Volkshochschule Zürich AG. See: Stadt Zürich Kultur (n.d.): Haus Bärengasse. Available online at: https://web.archive.org/web/20200229064242/https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/baerengasse# (accessed on 30 July 2024). ↩︎
34
Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster (n.d.): Ehrenbuch. In: Website of the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster. Available online at: https://fraumuenstergesellschaft.ch/ehrungen/ehrungen-ehrenbuch (accessed on 29 July 2024). ↩︎
35
Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster (n.d.): Ehrenbuch. In: Website of the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster. Available online at: https://fraumuenstergesellschaft.ch/ehrungen/ehrungen-ehrenbuch (accessed on 29 July 2024). ↩︎

Abbess, Fraumünstergesellschaft, Handover of the abbey, Katharinen-Turm, Katharinenturm, Reformation, Women's guild

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: Regula Zweifel. In: Equalpedia.

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Erstellt am: 23. September 2026
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Zuletzt bearbeitet am: 24. September 2026
Activism, Art, Biographies, Culture, Science
Abbess, Fraumünstergesellschaft, Handover of the abbey, Katharinen-Turm, Katharinenturm, Reformation, Women's guild