Riedenburg Convent, Bregenz

Sacré Coeur Riedenburg officially opened in 1857, although the property had already been purchased in 1853. In 1856, Madeleine Sophie Barat visited the site, making it the only branch in this region she personally saw. The founding sisters came from the Blumenstein convent in Solothurn, Switzerland, which became a key centre of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus after the novitiate in Poitiers closed in 1830, supporting the order’s expansion into this region.

From the start, the school focused on advanced education for girls. Today, the Primary School and the International School (IB Diploma) are co-educational, while the Gymnasium and the College for Service Industries (HLW) remain mainly girls-only, continuing the school’s original mission.

The architectural heart of the campus is the Sacré-Coeur-Kirche, built between 1862 and 1865 in Neo-Gothic style. Its pointed arches and ribbed vaults follow 19th-century church design. The overall layout reflects the Sacred Heart model used across Europe, combining private cloistered areas for the sisters with clearly defined academic spaces for students within one connected complex.