Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.
Showing posts with label Austria.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Austria.. Show all posts

Saturday 8 July 2017

Admont Abbey, Austria.


Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.



Admont Abbey Library, 
Austria.
Photo: 11 September 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: © Jorge Royan / http://www.royan.com.ar
(Wikimedia Commons)

Admont Abbey (German: Stift Admont) is a Benedictine Monastery, located on The Enns River, in the Town of Admont, Austria. The oldest remaining Monastery in Styria, Austria, Admont Abbey contains the largest Monastic Library in the World, as well as a long-established Scientific Collection. It is known for its Baroque Architecture, Art, and Manuscripts.

The Abbey's location, on the borders of the mountainous Gesäuse National Park (the name Admont derives from the Latin expression "ad montes," "at the mountains") is of unusual scenic beauty.


Admont Abbey, Austria.
Available on YouTube at

Dedicated to Saint Blaise, Admont Abbey was founded in 1074 by Archbishop Gebhard, of Salzburg, with the legacy of the Late-Saint, Hemma of Gurk, and settled by Monks from Saint Peter's Abbey, in Salzburg, Austria, under Abbot Isingrin. The second Abbot, Giselbert, is said to have introduced The Cluniac Reforms. Another of the early Abbots, Wolfhold, established a Convent for the education of girls of noble family, and the educational Tradition has remained strong ever since. The Monastery prospered during The Middle Ages and possessed a productive Scriptorium. Abbot Engelbert, of Admont, (1297–1327) was a famous scholar and author of many works.


English: Admont Abbey, Ausstria.
Deutsch: Südostflügel des Stiftes Admont in der Steiermark. Zu sehen sind auch
die beiden Kirchturmspitzen und der angebaute gläserne Aufgang an der Ostseite
sowie der Löschwasserteich im Vordergrund. Fotografiert am 7. Juni 2005
von Dominik Stadler, Bild freigegeben im Sinne der CC-BY-SA-2.0 and GFDL.
This File: 12 June 2005.
User: Centic.
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Wars against the Turks, and The Reformation (Abbot Valentine was obliged to resign because of his Reformed views), caused a lengthy decline, but, with The Counter-Reformation, the Abbey flourished once again. In addition to the Secondary School, which later moved to Judenburg, there were faculties of Theology and Philosophy. Abbot Albert von Muchar was well known as an historian and taught at the University of Graz.

In the 17th- and 18th-Centuries, the Abbey reached a high point of artistic productivity, with the works of the world-famous Ecclesiastical Embroiderer, Brother Benno Haan (1631–1720), and the sculptor Joseph Stammel (1695–1765).

On 27 April 1865, a disastrous fire destroyed almost the entire Monastery. While the Monastic archives burned, the Library could be salvaged. Reconstruction began the following year, but was still not complete by 1890.


English: Coat-of-Arms of Styria, Austria.
Nederlands: Wapen van de deelstaat Stiermarken.
Deutsch: Landeswappen der Steiermark.
Date: Unknown date.
File: 2006-05-27.
Source: Based on Coat-of-Arms of Styria,
depicted on www.verwaltung.steiermark.at
Author: Unknown.
File: David Liuzzo.
(Wikimedia Commons)

The economic crises of the 1930s forced the Abbey to sell off many of its art treasures, and, during the period of The National Socialist government, the Monastery was Dissolved and the Monks evicted. They were able to return in 1946 and the Abbey, today, is again a thriving Benedictine Community.

From 1641, the Abbey was a Member of The Salzburg Congregation, which, in 1930, was merged into the present Austrian Congregation of The Benedictine Confederation.


Admont Abbey Library and Museum.
Available on YouTube at

The present Church was designed by the architect Wilhelm Bücher, to replace the former Church after the fire of 1865. It is inspired by Regensburg Cathedral and was the first Sacred Building in Austria in the Neo-Gothic Style. It incorporates 12th-Century Romanesque Side Doors. The two West Towers are sixty-seven metres tall, and the facade contains figures of Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica. The figure of the Church's Patron, Saint Blaise, tops the Pinnacle of The Great West Door.


English: The Nave of Admont Abbey Church, Admont, Styria, Austria.
Deutsch: Langhaus der Stiftskirche Admont, Admont, Steiermark.
Photo: 18 June 2012.
Source: Own work.
Author: Zairon.
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Interior consists of a Central Aisle and two Side Aisles, off each of which are five Side Chapels and six Altars. The picture on the Altar of Mary, Maria Immaculata, by Martino Altomonte (1657–1745), is surrounded by fifteen carved Medallions of The Secrets of The Rosary, by Joseph Stammel. Both works of art were created in 1726 and survived the fire of 1856.

In a Side Chapel, is located the famous Crib of Admont, also by Stammel. It is open to public view from 25 December to 2 February. The Gothic Crucifix, under The Triumphal Arch, dated 1518, is ascribed to Andreas Lackner.

A statue of Saint Blaise stands on top of The High Altar of White Carrara Marble. The Choir is decorated with Early-18th-Century Tapestries, by Benno Haan. In The Chapel of Saint Benedict, is a Baroque Corpus Christi, from the Workshop of Johann Meinrad Guggenbichler.


English: The Abbey Church, Admont Abbey, Austria.
Deutsch: Stift Admont, Stiftskirche.
Photo: 14 February 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: User:Fb78.
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Community at Admont consists of over twenty-seven Monks, under Abbot Bruno Hubl. The Abbey is responsible for: Twenty-seven Parishes; runs a Secondary School with about 600 pupils; and an Old People's Home in Frauenberg, Austria. Its various businesses and enterprises employ about 500 people, and it also has the management of the Museums and Collections, detailed below.

The Library Hall, built in 1776 to designs by the architect Joseph Hueber, is seventy metres long, fourteen metres wide and thirteen metres high, and is the largest Monastery Library in the World. It contains circa 70,000 volumes of the Monastery's entire holdings of circa 200,000 volumes. The Ceiling consists of seven Cupolas, decorated with frescoes by Bartolomeo Altomonte showing the stages of human knowledge up to the high point of Divine Revelation. Light is provided by forty-eight windows and is reflected by the original colour scheme of Gold and White. The architecture and design express the ideals of The Enlightenment, against which the sculptures by Joseph Stammel of "The Four Last Things" make a striking contrast.

The Abbey possesses over 1,400 Manuscripts, the oldest of which, from Saint Peter's Abbey, in Salzburg, Austria, were the gift of the Founder, Archbishop Gebhard, and accompanied the first Monks to settle here, as well as over 900 Incunabulae.


English: The Nave of Admont Abbey Church, Admont, Styria, Austria.
Deutsch: Langhaus der Stiftskirche Admont, Admont, Steiermark.
Photo: 18 June 2012.
Source: Own work.
Author: Zairon.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Since the Baroque period, the Abbots had accumulated a collection of "curiosities" and scientific specimens of various sorts, which were entirely destroyed in the fire of 1865. As part of the reconstruction, Father Gabriel Strobl determined to replace the lost collections, and so formed the nucleus of the modern Museums. Father Strobl was a botanist, but also worked on building up the insect collection, so much so that he became one of the great Entomologists of his day. The Natural History Museum now contains over 250,000 insect specimens, including one of the three largest collections of flies, or Diptera, in Europe. Other collections of, for example, minerals and rock, and exotic species, have also been formed.

The Abbey also houses two major Art Collections of Historical and Modern Art. The Historical Art Collection was begun in 1959 by Father Adalbert Krause, and has been significantly augmented since 1980. The present Museum was opened in 2003. The Collection particularly features Ecclesiastical Art, and contains, for example, many works of Ecclesiastical Embroidery by the famous Craftsman, Benno Haan, and of the Abbey Sculptor, Joseph Stammel.

Since 1997, the Abbey has also been building up a Collection of Contemporary Art, largely produced by young Austrian artists and often specially designed for the Abbey premises.


English: Admont Abbey Church, Austria.
Deutsch: Ansicht der Stiftskirche Admont vom Park, Steiermark.
Photo: 3 May 2014.
Source: Own work.
Author: Uoaei1.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Friday 8 July 2016

Admont Abbey, Austria.


Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.





Admont Abbey Library,
Austria.
Photo: 11 September 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: © Jorge Royan / http://www.royan.com.ar
(Wikimedia Commons)



Admont Abbey (German: Stift Admont) is a Benedictine Monastery, located on The Enns River, in the Town of Admont, Austria. The oldest remaining Monastery in Styria, Austria, Admont Abbey contains the largest Monastic Library in the World, as well as a long-established Scientific Collection. It is known for its Baroque architecture, Art, and Manuscripts.

The Abbey's location, on the borders of the mountainous Gesäuse National Park (the name Admont derives from the Latin expression "ad montes," "at the mountains") is of unusual scenic beauty.

Dedicated to Saint Blaise, Admont Abbey was founded in 1074 by Archbishop Gebhard, of Salzburg, with the legacy of the Late-Saint, Hemma of Gurk, and settled by Monks from Saint Peter's Abbey, in Salzburg, Austria, under Abbot Isingrin. The second Abbot, Giselbert, is said to have introduced The Cluniac Reforms. Another of the early Abbots, Wolfhold, established a Convent for the education of girls of noble family, and the educational Tradition has remained strong ever since. The Monastery prospered during The Middle Ages and possessed a productive Scriptorium. Abbot Engelbert, of Admont, (1297–1327) was a famous scholar and author of many works.




English: Admont Abbey,
Styria, Austria.
Deutsch: Stift Admont, Foto: P. Gabriel Reiterer.
Photo: 21 September 2005.
Source: Photo: P. Gabriel Reiterer.
Author: User M. B. on de.wikipedia.
(Wikimedia Commons)



The Wars against the Turks, and The Reformation (Abbot Valentine was obliged to resign because of his Reformed views), caused a lengthy decline, but, with The Counter-Reformation, the Abbey flourished once again. In addition to the Secondary School, which later moved to Judenburg, there were faculties of Theology and Philosophy. Abbot Albert von Muchar was well known as an historian and taught at the University of Graz.

In the 17th- and 18th-Centuries, the Abbey reached a high point of artistic productivity, with the works of the world-famous Ecclesiastical Embroiderer, Brother Benno Haan (1631–1720), and the sculptor Joseph Stammel (1695–1765).

On 27 April 1865, a disastrous fire destroyed almost the entire Monastery. While the Monastic archives burned, the Library could be salvaged. Reconstruction began the following year, but was still not complete by 1890.




English: Coat-of-Arms of Styria, Austria.
Nederlands: Wapen van de deelstaat Stiermarken.
Deutsch: Landeswappen der Steiermark.
Date: Unknown date.
File: 2006-05-27.
Source: Based on Coat-of-Arms of Styria,
depicted on www.verwaltung.steiermark.at
Author: Unknown.
File: David Liuzzo.
(Wikimedia Commons)



The economic crises of the 1930s forced the Abbey to sell off many of its art treasures, and, during the period of The National Socialist government, the Monastery was Dissolved and the Monks evicted. They were able to return in 1946 and the Abbey, today, is again a thriving Benedictine Community.

From 1641, the Abbey was a Member of The Salzburg Congregation, which, in 1930, was merged into the present Austrian Congregation of The Benedictine Confederation.

The present Church was designed by the architect Wilhelm Bücher, to replace the former Church after the fire of 1865. It is inspired by Regensburg Cathedral and was the first Sacred Building in Austria in the Neo-Gothic Style. It incorporates 12th-Century Romanesque Side Doors. The two West Towers are sixty-seven metres tall, and the facade contains figures of Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica. The figure of the Church's Patron, Saint Blaise, tops the Pinnacle of The Great West Door.




English: The Nave of Admont Abbey Church, Admont, Styria, Austria.
Deutsch: Langhaus der Stiftskirche Admont, Admont, Steiermark.
Photo: 18 June 2012.
Source: Own work.
Author: Zairon.
(Wikimedia Commons)



The Interior consists of a Central Aisle and two Side Aisles, off each of which are five Side Chapels and six Altars. The picture on the Altar of Mary, Maria Immaculata, by Martino Altomonte (1657–1745), is surrounded by fifteen carved Medallions of The Secrets of The Rosary, by Joseph Stammel. Both works of art were created in 1726 and survived the fire of 1856.

In a Side Chapel, is located the famous Crib of Admont, also by Stammel. It is open to view from 25 December to 2 February. The Gothic Crucifix, under The Triumphal Arch, dated 1518, is ascribed to Andreas Lackner.

A statue of Saint Blaise stands on top of The High Altar of White Carrara Marble. The Choir is decorated with Early-18th-Century Tapestries, by Benno Haan. In The Chapel of Saint Benedict, is a Baroque Corpus Christi, from the Workshop of Johann Meinrad Guggenbichler.




English: The Abbey Church,
Admont Abbey, 
Austria.
Deutsch: Stift Admont, Stiftskirche.
Photo: 14 February 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: User:Fb78.
(Wikimedia Commons)



The Community at Admont consists of over twenty-seven Monks, under Abbot Bruno Hubl. The Abbey is responsible for: Twenty-seven Parishes; runs a Secondary School with about 600 pupils; and an Old People's Home in Frauenberg, Austria. Its various businesses and enterprises employ about 500 people, and it also has the management of the Museums and Collections, detailed below.

The Library Hall, built in 1776 to designs by the architect Joseph Hueber, is seventy metres long, fourteen metres wide and thirteen metres high, and is the largest Monastery Library in the World. It contains circa 70,000 volumes of the Monastery's entire holdings of circa 200,000 volumes. The Ceiling consists of seven Cupolas, decorated with frescoes by Bartolomeo Altomonte showing the stages of human knowledge up to the high point of Divine Revelation. Light is provided by forty-eight windows and is reflected by the original colour scheme of Gold and White. The architecture and design express the ideals of The Enlightenment, against which the sculptures by Joseph Stammel of "The Four Last Things" make a striking contrast.

The Abbey possesses over 1,400 Manuscripts, the oldest of which, from Saint Peter's Abbey, in Salzburg, Austria, were the gift of the Founder, Archbishop Gebhard, and accompanied the first Monks to settle here, as well as over 900 Incunabulae.




English: The Nave of Admont Abbey Church, Admont, Styria, Austria.
Deutsch: Langhaus der Stiftskirche Admont, Admont, Steiermark.
Photo: 18 June 2012.
Source: Own work.
Author: Zairon.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Since the Baroque period, the Abbots had accumulated a collection of "curiosities" and scientific specimens of various sorts, which were entirely destroyed in the fire of 1865. As part of the reconstruction, Father Gabriel Strobl determined to replace the lost collections, and so formed the nucleus of the modern Museums. Father Strobl was a botanist, but also worked on building up the insect collection, so much so that he became one of the great Entomologists of his day. The Natural History Museum now contains over 250,000 insect specimens, including one of the three largest collections of flies, or Diptera, in Europe. Other collections of, for example, minerals and rock, and exotic species, have also been formed.

The Abbey also houses two major Art Collections of Historical and Modern Art. The Historical Art Collection was begun in 1959 by Father Adalbert Krause, and has been significantly augmented since 1980. The present Museum was opened in 2003. The Collection particularly features Ecclesiastical Art, and contains, for example, many works of Ecclesiastical Embroidery by the famous Craftsman, Benno Haan, and of the Abbey Sculptor, Joseph Stammel.

Since 1997, the Abbey has also been building up a Collection of Contemporary Art, largely produced by young Austrian artists and often specially designed for the Abbey premises.




English: Admont Abbey Church viewed from the Park.
Deutsch: Ansicht der Stiftskirche Admont vom Park, Steiermark.
Photo: 3 May 2014.
Source: Own work.
Author: Uoaei1.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Wednesday 8 July 2015

Admont Abbey, Austria.


Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.




Admont Abbey Library,
Austria.
Photo: 11 September 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: © Jorge Royan / http://www.royan.com.ar
(Wikimedia Commons)


Admont Abbey (German: Stift Admont) is a Benedictine Monastery, located on the Enns River, in the town of Admont, Austria. The oldest remaining Monastery in Styria, Austria, Admont Abbey contains the largest Monastic Library in the World, as well as a long-established scientific collection. It is known for its Baroque architecture, Art, and Manuscripts.

The Abbey's location, on the borders of the mountainous Gesäuse National Park (the name Admont derives from the Latin expression "ad montes," "at the mountains") is of unusual scenic beauty.

Dedicated to Saint Blaise, Admont Abbey was founded in 1074 by Archbishop Gebhard, of Salzburg, with the legacy of the Late-Saint, Hemma of Gurk, and settled by Monks from Saint Peter's Abbey, in Salzburg, Austria, under Abbot Isingrin. The second Abbot, Giselbert, is said to have introduced The Cluniac Reforms. Another of the early Abbots, Wolfhold, established a Convent for the education of girls of noble family, and the educational tradition has remained strong ever since. The Monastery prospered during The Middle Ages and possessed a productive Scriptorium. Abbot Engelbert, of Admont, (1297–1327) was a famous scholar and author of many works.




English: Admont Abbey,
Styria, Austria.
Deutsch: Stift Admont, Foto: P. Gabriel Reiterer.
Photo: 21 September 2005.
Source: Photo: P. Gabriel Reiterer.
Author: User M. B. on de.wikipedia.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Wars against the Turks, and The Reformation (Abbot Valentine was obliged to resign because of his Reformed views), caused a lengthy decline, but, with The Counter-Reformation, the Abbey flourished once again. In addition to the Secondary School, which later moved to Judenburg, there were faculties of Theology and Philosophy. Abbot Albert von Muchar was well known as an historian and taught at the University of Graz.

In the 17th- and 18th-Centuries, the Abbey reached a high point of artistic productivity, with the works of the world-famous ecclesiastical embroiderer Brother Benno Haan (1631–1720) and the sculptor Joseph Stammel (1695–1765).

On 27 April 1865, a disastrous fire destroyed almost the entire Monastery. While the Monastic archives burned, the Library could be salvaged. Reconstruction began the following year, but was still not complete by 1890.



English: Coat-of-Arms of Styria, Austria.
Nederlands: Wapen van de deelstaat Stiermarken.
Deutsch: Landeswappen der Steiermark.
Date: Unknown date. 
File: 2006-05-27.
Source: Based on Coat-of-Arms of Styria,
depicted on www.verwaltung.steiermark.at
Author: Unknown. 
File: David Liuzzo.
(Wikimedia Commons)



The economic crises of the 1930s forced the Abbey to sell off many of its art treasures, and, during the period of The National Socialist government, the Monastery was Dissolved and the Monks evicted. They were able to return in 1946 and the Abbey, today, is again a thriving Benedictine Community.

From 1641, the Abbey was a Member of The Salzburg Congregation, which, in 1930, was merged into the present Austrian Congregation of The Benedictine Confederation.

The present Church was designed by the architect Wilhelm Bücher, to replace the former Church after the fire of 1865. It is inspired by Regensburg Cathedral and was the first Sacred Building in Austria in the Neo-Gothic Style. It incorporates 12th-Century Romanesque Side Doors. The two West Towers are sixty-seven metres tall, and the facade contains figures of Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica. The figure of the Church's Patron, Saint Blaise, tops the Pinnacle of The Great West Door.




English: The Nave of Admont Abbey Church, Admont, Styria, Austria.
Deutsch: Langhaus der Stiftskirche Admont, Admont, Steiermark.
Photo: 18 June 2012.
Source: Own work.
Author: Zairon.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Interior consists of a Central Aisle and two Side Aisles, off each of which are five Side Chapels and six Altars. The picture on the Altar of Mary, Maria Immaculata, by Martino Altomonte (1657–1745), is surrounded by fifteen carved Medallions of The Secrets of The Rosary, by Joseph Stammel. Both works of art were created in 1726 and survived the fire of 1856.

In a Side Chapel, is located the famous Crib of Admont, also by Stammel. It is open to view from 25 December to 2 February. The Gothic Crucifix, under The Triumphal Arch, dated 1518, is ascribed to Andreas Lackner.

A statue of Saint Blaise stands on top of The High Altar of White Carrara Marble. The Choir is decorated with Early-18th-Century tapestries, by Benno Haan. In The Chapel of Saint Benedict, is a Baroque Corpus Christifrom the workshop of Johann Meinrad Guggenbichler.





English: The Abbey Church,
Admont Abbey,
Austria.
Deutsch: Stift Admont, Stiftskirche.
Photo: 14 February 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: User:Fb78.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Community at Admont consists of over twenty-seven Monks, under Abbot Bruno Hubl. The Abbey is responsible for: Twenty-seven Parishes; runs a Secondary School with about 600 pupils; and an Old People's Home in Frauenberg, Austria. Its various businesses and enterprises employ about 500 people, and it also has the management of the Museums and Collections, detailed below.

The Library Hall, built in 1776 to designs by the architect Joseph Hueber, is seventy metres long, fourteen metres wide and thirteen metres high, and is the largest Monastery Library in the World. It contains circa 70,000 volumes of the Monastery's entire holdings of circa 200,000 volumes. The Ceiling consists of seven Cupolas, decorated with frescoes by Bartolomeo Altomonte showing the stages of human knowledge up to the high point of Divine Revelation. Light is provided by forty-eight windows and is reflected by the original colour scheme of Gold and White. The architecture and design express the ideals of The Enlightenment, against which the sculptures by Joseph Stammel of "The Four Last Things" make a striking contrast.

The Abbey possesses over 1,400 Manuscripts, the oldest of which, from Saint Peter's Abbey, in Salzburg, Austria, were the gift of the Founder, Archbishop Gebhard, and accompanied the first Monks to settle here, as well as over 900 Incunabulae.



English: The Nave of Admont Abbey Church, Admont, Styria, Austria.

Deutsch: Langhaus der Stiftskirche Admont, Admont, Steiermark.
Photo: 18 June 2012.
Source: Own work.
Author: Zairon.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Since the Baroque period, the Abbots had accumulated a collection of "curiosities" and scientific specimens of various sorts, which were entirely destroyed in the fire of 1865. As part of the reconstruction, Father Gabriel Strobl determined to replace the lost collections, and so formed the nucleus of the modern Museums. Father Strobl was a botanist, but also worked on building up the insect collection, so much so that he became one of the great entomologists of his day. The Natural History Museum now contains over 250,000 insect specimens, including one of the three largest collections of flies, or Diptera, in Europe. Other collections of, for example, minerals and rock, and exotic species, have also been formed.

The Abbey also houses two major Art Collections of Historical and Modern Art. The Historical Art Collection was begun in 1959 by Father Adalbert Krause, and has been significantly augmented since 1980. The present Museum was opened in 2003. The Collection particularly features Ecclesiastical Art, and contains, for example, many works of Ecclesiastical Embroidery by the famous Craftsman, Benno Haan, and of the Abbey Sculptor, Joseph Stammel.

Since 1997, the Abbey has also been building up a Collection of Contemporary Art, largely produced by young Austrian artists and often specially designed for the Abbey premises.




English: Admont Abbey Church viewed from the Park.
Deutsch: Ansicht der Stiftskirche Admont vom Park, Steiermark.
Photo: 3 May 2014.
Source: Own work.
Author: Uoaei1.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Tuesday 19 August 2014

Melk Abbey, Austria.


Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.





English: Melk Abbey, Austria.
Български: Двореца във Вахау, Австрия.
Date: 2005-04-07 (original upload date).
Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia
Author: Original uploader was HochauerW at en.wikipedia
(Wikimedia Commons)





English: Melk Abbey above Melk Old Town.
Deutsch: Stift Melk über der Melker Altstadt.
Date: February 2005.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Melk Abbey (German: Stift Melk) is a Benedictine Abbey in Austria, and among the world's most famous Monastic sites. It is located above the town of Melk, on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Danube river in Lower Austria, adjoining the Wachau valley. The Abbey contains the tomb of Saint Coloman of Stockerau and the remains of several members of the House of Babenberg, Austria's first ruling dynasty.




Melk Abbey Library,
Austria.
This File: 12 March 2008.
User: Emgonzalez.
Source: Own work.
Author: Emgonzalez.
(Wikimedia Commons)



The Abbey was founded in 1089, when Leopold II, Margrave of Austria, gave one of his Castles to Benedictine Monks from Lambach Abbey. A Monastic School, the Stiftsgymnasium Melk, was founded in the 12th-Century, and the Monastic Library soon became renowned for its extensive manuscript collection. The Monastery's Scriptorium was also a major site for the production of manuscripts. In the 15th-Century, the Abbey became the centre of the Melk Reform Movement, which re-invigorated the Monastic life of Austria and Southern Germany.




Deutsch: Stift Melk, Niederösterreich: Kirche.
English: Benedictine Abbey of Melk, Lower Austria: Church.
Français: Abbaye bénédictine de Melk, Basse-Autriche: église.
This File: 2 May 2005.
Copyright © 2005 David Monniaux.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Today's impressive Baroque Abbey was built between 1702 and 1736 to designs by Jakob Prandtauer. Particularly noteworthy, is the Abbey Church, with frescos by Johann Michael Rottmayr, and the impressive Library with countless Mediaeval manuscripts, including a famed collection of musical manuscripts and frescos by Paul Troger.




Photo: 25 May 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: Aconcagua.
(Wikimedia Commons)





Deutsch: Stift Melk, Melk.
English: Melk Abbey, Austria.
Photo: 13 September 2011.
Source: Own work.
Author: Zairon.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Due to its fame and academic stature, Melk Abbey managed to escape Dissolution, under Emperor Joseph II , when many other Austrian Abbeys were seized and Dissolved between 1780 and 1790. The Abbey managed to survive other threats to its existence, during the Napoleonic Wars, and also in the period following the Nazi Anschluss that took control of Austria in 1938, when the School and a large part of the Abbey were confiscated by the State.

The school was returned to the Abbey after the Second World War and now caters for nearly 900 pupils of both sexes.




Deutsch: Hochaltar der Stiftskirche Melk.
English: High Altar of Melk Abbey, Austria.
Photo: 15 July 2013.
Source: Own work.
Author: Uoaei1.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Since 1625, the Abbey has been a member of the Austrian Congregation, now within the Benedictine Confederation.

In his well-known novel "The Name of the Rose", Umberto Eco named one of the protagonists "Adson von Melk" as a tribute to the Abbey and its famous Library.




Melk Abbey, Austria.
Photo: 11 November 2010.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)





English: Choir Stalls in the Abbey Church of Melk Abbey, Austria.
Deutsch: Das Chorgestühl in der Kirche des Stifts Melk.
Photo: 7 April 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: Effi Schweizer.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Melk Abbey was recently selected as the main motif of a very high value Collectors' Coin: The Austrian Melk Abbey Commemorative Coin, minted on 18 April 2007. The obverse shows a view up to the façade of the Abbey Church and its two side wings from a low level. The twin Baroque Towers and the great Dome of the Church behind them can be seen. In the lower-right corner, the Coat-of-Arms of the Abbey of Melk (the Crossed Keys of Saint Peter) can be seen.




Painting on the Ceiling of the Marble Hall, Melk Abbey, Austria.
The Ceiling painting shows Pallas Athena on a chariot, drawn by lions, as a symbol of wisdom
and moderation. Hercules is to her Left, symbolising the force necessary to conquer the
three-headed Hound of Hell, night, and sin. Both Pallas Athena and Hercules are disguised
references to Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI.
Author: Paul Troger (1698–1762) (Ceiling painting)
and Creator:Gaetano Fanti (architectural painting).
Date: 1731.
Current location: Melk Abbey, Austria.
Source/Photographer: Own work, Alberto Fernandez Fernandez, 2007-07.
(Wikimedia Commons)




Euro Commemorative Coin depicting Melk Abbey.
This File: 7 March 2008.
User: Miguel.mateo.
(Wikimedia Commons)





English: The Pulpit in the Church of Melk Abbey, Austria.
Deutsch: Die Kanzel in der Kirche des Stifts Melk.
Photo: 17 May 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: Lily.
(Wikimedia Commons)





English: The Church of Melk Abbey, Austria.
Deutsch: Die Kirche des Stifts Melk.
Photo: 7 April 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: Effi Schweizer.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...