Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia is the patron saint of the Bruges Beguinage.
A statue of the patron saint is located above the main gate to the Beguinage, another statue in the facade of the church.
Who is Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia
Elisabeth of Thuringia (1207-1231), also known as Elisabeth of Hungary, was a daughter of the Hungarian king Andreas II. Through her marriage, she became landgrave of Thuringia.
Elisabeth died at the age of 24 in 1231. Her life was dedicated to charity and caring for the sick and poor. She was canonised by Pope Gregory IX in 1235, four years after her death.Iconography
Saint Elisabeth is usually depicted wearing a crown. Her other attributes are a water jug and bread. She also often carries roses in her apron. In some images, she appears with three crowns which are said to refer to her penance, her chastity and to her exemplary life. Patron saint
Saint Elisabeth is patroness of Hungary and of Thuringia.
She is also patron saint of charity, hospitals, beggars, orphans, widows and widowers.
In Flanders, numerous beguinages choose St Elisabeth of Hungary as their patron saint.
In 2025, Bruges will celebrate the 8th centenary of the Beguinage De Wijngaard.
To add further lustre to this initiative, Bruges Foundation - in collaboration and with the financial support of Guides with a Heart - took the initiative to restore the statue of Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia.
This statue is located above the entrance gate to the church and is currently .in a questionable physical condition.
Guides with a Heart raised funds through their summer activity 2024 in favour of Bruges heritage. They committed to help restore this Saint Elisabeth statue.
Bruges Foundation will take care of the necessary substantive and administrative steps, will organise and closely monitor the restoration, and will also contribute financially to the entire project.
For this restoration, Bruges Foundation received the agreement of the Bruges city council, which owns the beguinage church.
Brugge Foundation appointed restoration studio RESTAURA for the colour study on image and image niche to determine restoration options.
Following the findings of this stratigraphic survey, which indicated a totally different original colouring, the project was extended to tackle the entire portal niche and entrance door to the church.
The preliminary examinations and actual restoration works are estimated at around €20,000. The latter will start as soon as the necessary preliminary examinations have been carried out and authorisations obtained. The effective restoration of the statue will start in February 2025.
In June 2025, at the start of the festive year, the statue of St Elisabeth will shine again as before, contributing to the splendour of the Beguinage.
