page_title: Wachau
section_title: Göttweig Abbey
hierarchical_section_title: Wachau / Historical monuments / Göttweig Abbey
caption_attribution_description: Stift Göttweig, Österreich. Blick von Nordwesten. &#160; This media shows the protected monument with the number 55861 in Austria. (Commons, de, Wikidata)
context_page_description: The Wachau is an Austrian valley with a picturesque landscape formed by the Danube river. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations of Lower Austria, located midway between the towns of Melk and Krems that also attracts "connoisseurs and epicureans" for its high-quality wines. It is 36 kilometres in length and was already settled in prehistoric times. A well-known place and tourist attraction is Dürnstein, where King Richard the Lionhearted of England was held captive by Duke Leopold V. The architectural elegance of its ancient monasteries, castles and ruins combined with the urban architecture of its towns and villages, and the cultivation of vines as an important agricultural produce are the dominant features of the valley.
  The Wachau was inscribed as "Wachau Cultural Landscape" in the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites in recognition of its architectural and agricultural history, in December 2000.
context_section_description: Göttweig Abbey, a Benedictine monastery near Krems, was founded as a monastery of canons regular by Blessed Altmann, Bishop of Passau. It is also known as the "Austrian Montecassino" named after the original Benedictine monastery in Italy. The high altar of the church was dedicated in 1072, but the monastery itself wasn't founded 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 woman poet known by name (d. 1127), lived as an anchorite. The nunnery, which was afterward 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.
  In 1718, the monastery burnt down and was partially 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 masterpiece of Baroque architecture in Austria. Executed by Paul Troger in 1739, it represents the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI as Apollo.
  The Abbey complex also part of UNESCO Heritage, located on a forested hill, is few miles away from Krems. The church in the complex has two unconventional towers with flat pyramidal shape. There are also four Tuscan columns built between the towers. It is painted in pink on the exterior, while the interiors are painted in gold, brown and blue colours. The altar built in 1639 is impressive and high and has backdrop of glass windows. The casket of abbey's founder, an ornamental organ front dated to 1703, the Altmann Crypt and the choir stalls are also seen behind the altar.
  Other notable architectural features seen in the west wing of the abbey are: The three storied Kalserstiege built in 1738, baroque staircases (known as the Imperial Staircase) with the ceiling painted with a fresco by Paul Troger with the theme of Emperor Karl VI's apotheosis (dated 1739). The museum here, which is accommodated in the former chambers of the Emperor and the Prince, holds every year, a vivid display of the abbeys art collections.
  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.
caption: Göttweig Abbey, seen from Stein
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