Göttweig Abbey

Göttweig Abbey
Göttweig Abbey, seen from Stein
Abbey church
Erentrudis Chapel

Göttweig Abbey (Stift Göttweig) is a Benedictine monastery near Krems in Lower Austria.

Contents

History

Göttweig Abbey was founded as a monastery of canons regular by Blessed Altmann, Bishop of Passau. The high altar of the church was dedicated in 1072, but the monastery itself not until 1083: the foundation charter, dated 9 September 1083, is still preserved in the abbey archives.

By 1094 the discipline of the community had become so lax that Bishop Ulrich of Passau, with the permission of Pope Urban II, introduced the Rule of St. Benedict. Prior Hartmann of St. Blaise's Abbey in the Black Forest was elected abbot. He brought with him from St. Blaise's a number of chosen monks, among whom were Blessed Wirnto and Blessed Berthold, later abbots of Formbach and Garsten respectively. Under Hartmann (1094–1114) Göttweig became a famous seat of learning and strict monastic observance. He founded a monastic school, organized a library, and at the foot of the hill built a nunnery where it is believed that Ava, the earliest German language poetess known by name (d. 1127), lived as an anchorite. The nunnery, which was afterwards transferred to the top of the hill, continued to exist until 1557.

During the 15th and 16th centuries however the abbey declined so rapidly that between 1556 and 1564 it had no abbot at all, and in 1564 not a single monk was left here. At this crisis an imperial deputation arrived at Göttweig, and elected Michael Herrlich, a monk of Melk Abbey, as abbot. The new abbot, who held his office until 1604, restored the monastery spiritually and financially, and rebuilt it after it had been almost entirely destroyed by fire in 1580.

Abbots distinguished during the Reformation were George Falb (1612–1631) and David Corner (1631–1648), who successfully opposed the spread of Protestantism in the district.

Imperial Staircase: Apotheosis of Charles VI (fresco by Paul Troger, 1739)

In 1718 the monastery burnt down and was rebuilt on a grander scale during the abbacy of Gottfried Bessel (1714-1749) to designs by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt inspired by the Escorial, a scheme so lavish that Abbot Gottfried was nearly deposed because of it. The fresco decorating the imperial staircase is considered as a master piece of Baroque architecture in Austria. Executed by Paul Troger in 1739, it represents the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI as Apollo.

The abbey has a library of 130,000 books and manuscripts, and a particularly important collection of religious engravings, besides valuable collections of coins, antiquities, musical manuscripts and natural history, all of which survived the dangers of World War II and its immediate aftermath almost without loss.

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

Commemorative Euro coin

Göttweig Abbey was recently selected as the main motif of a very high value collectors' coin: the Austrian Göttweig Abbey commemorative coin, minted on October 11, 2006. The obverse side shows the abbey with its fortress-like towers on top of the hill surrounded by trees and vineyards.

References

  • Lechner, Gregor, 1988: Das Benediktinerstift Gottweig, in Der Wachau und Seine Sammlungen. Munich: Schnell & Steiner. ISBN 9783795406776 (German)

External links

Coordinates: 48°22′04″N 15°36′45″E / 48.36778°N 15.6125°E / 48.36778; 15.6125


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Göttweig, Abbey of — • A Benedictine abbey situated on a hill of the same name, south of Krems, in Lower Austria Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006 …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Abbey of Gottweig —     Abbey of Göttweig     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Abbey of Göttweig     (GOTTWEIH, GOTTVICUM, GOTTVICENSE).     A Benedictine abbey situated on a hill of the same name, not quite four miles south of Krems, in Lower Austria. It was founded as a… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • St. Blasien Abbey in the Black Forest — Infobox Former Country native name = Reichskloster St Blasien im Schwarzwald conventional long name = Imperial Abbey of St Blaise in the Black Forest common name = Saint Blaise s Abbey| continent = Europe region = Central Europe country = Germany …   Wikipedia

  • Seitenstetten Abbey — (Stift Seitenstetten) is a Benedictine monastery in Seitenstetten in the Mostviertel region of Lower Austria.HistoryThe monastery was founded in 1112 by Udalschalk, or Udiskalk, a relative of Bishop Ulrich of Passau, to which he gave all his… …   Wikipedia

  • Золотые и серебряные монеты евро Австрии — Австрия Republik Österreich Код ISO ISO 3166 2:AT …   Википедия

  • Altmann of Passau — Altmann of Passau, often called Saint or Blessed Altmann (born about 1015; died 8 August 1091) was a founder of monasteries and Bishop of Passau. He is venerated as a saint, but not officially canonised.He was born between 1013 and 1020 in… …   Wikipedia

  • Austrian Congregation — The Austrian Congregation is a congregation of Benedictine monasteries situated in Austria, within the Benedictine Confederation.HistoryThe Congregation was founded on 3 August 1625 by Pope Urban VIII, and consisted of eleven Benedictine… …   Wikipedia

  • Paul Troger — Infobox Artist name = Paul Troger imagesize = 200px caption = Self portrait at the age of 30 birthname = birthdate = Birth date|1698|10|30 location = Welsberg, Tyrol deathdate = Death date and age|1762|07|20|1698|10|30 deathplace = Vienna… …   Wikipedia

  • Ava (poet) — The poetess Ava (c. 1060 ndash;7 February 1127), also known as Frau Ava, Ava of Göttweig or Ava of Melk, was the first named female writer in any genre in the German language.LifeAva was married and had two sons (Hartmann and Heinrich), who were… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Christian religious houses in Austria — This is an incomplete list of Christian religious houses in Austria, including those in territory historically Austrian but now in other countries, both for men and for women, whether or not still extant. All those so far listed are Roman… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”