Endingerturm

Einsiedlerhaus
Native name Einsiedlerhaus
Lakeshore at the Kapuzinerkloster and Endingen in Rapperswil: Einsiedlerhaus and Endingerturm gate, Lindenhof hill and the Rapperswil Castle in the background, as seen from Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft (ZSG) ship MS Helvetia on Zürichsee.
Location	Endingerstrasse 7, 8640 Rapperswil
Coordinates	47°13′36″N 8°48′17″E / 47.22667°N 8.80472°E / 47.22667; 8.80472Coordinates: 47°13′36″N 8°48′17″E / 47.22667°N 8.80472°E / 47.22667; 8.80472
Built	probably first mentioned 981 AD
Architectural style(s)	European Medieval
Governing body	Einsiedeln Abbey

Einsiedlerhaus is a historic building with an adjoint garden which is part of the former town wall of the medieval Swiss town of Rapperswil in the Canton of St. Gallen.

Situated on the shore of Zürichsee lake, Einsiedlerhaus is the eastern extension of the fortification of a neighbouring Capuchin friary (German: Kapuzinerkloster) in the so-called Endingen area, located below the Lindenhof hill. The building is separated from the monastery by a tower gate named Endingertor, and also houses one of the rose gardens in Rapperswil.

The building was probably built in the 13th century, or maybe two centuries earlier. The Zürichsee lake shore area of Endingen was given by the Einsiedeln Abbey to the Counts of Rapperswil as a fief – the abbey is still owner of the land, including the area where the 16th-century Capuchin friary was built. That's why the building traditionally was named Einsiedlerhaus, meaning "house of the Einsiedeln abbey". Historians mention a 10th-century ferry station located there – in 981 AD as well as the vineyard on the Lindenhof hill – between Kempraten on Kempratnerbucht, Lützelau and Ufenau islands and presumably present Hurden, which allowed the pilgrims towards Einsiedeln to cross the lake before the prehistoric lake crossing at the Seedamm isthmus was re-built between 1358 and 1360. Endingen was also the location of the former locus Endingen, meaning a small fishing village before the town of Rapperswil was established between 1200 and 1220. That's why some historians conclude that the Einsiedlerhaus may be the oldest stone building in present Rapperswil. The western lake shore town wall respectively fortifications of Rapperswil probably were built in the early 13th century by Rudolf II von Rapperswil. With the rise of the town, the monastic governor in Pfäffikon used the building as storage of goods that were sold at the Rapperswil market.