Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

Tuesday 20 February 2024

Melk Abbey, Austria.



English: Melk Abbey, Austria.
Български: Двореца във Вахау, Австрия.
Date: 2005-04-07 (original upload date).
Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia.
Author: Original uploader HochauerW 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, Austria.
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Available on YouTube at

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless otherwise stated.

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)


Melk Abbey.
Available on YouTube at

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.


English: Benedictine Abbey of Melk,
Lower Austria.
Deutsch: Stift Melk, Niederösterreich.
Français: Abbaye bénédictine de Melk, Basse-Autriche.
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 frescoes by Johann Michael Rottmayr, and the Library with countless Mediæval Manuscripts, including a famed collection of Musical Manuscripts and frescoes by Paul Troger.


English: Melk Abbey,
Photo: 25 May 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: Aconcagua
(Wikimedia Commons)


English: Melk Abbey, Austria.
Deutsch: Stift Melk, Melk.
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.


English: The High Altar,
Melk Abbey, Austria.
Deutsch: Hochaltar der Stiftskirche Melk.
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,
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 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 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.
Source/Photographer: Alberto Fernandez Fernandez
(Wikimedia Commons)


Photo: 25 July 2014.
Source: Own work.
Author: Uoaei1
(Wikimedia Commons)


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


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