Melk Abbey () is a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

above the town of Melk,

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

, on a rocky outcrop overlooking the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

river, 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.

History

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, a forerunner of the Stiftsgymnasium Melk, was founded in the twelfth century, and the monastic library soon became renowned for its extensive manuscript collection and production, many of them contain musical compositions. In the fifteenth century the abbey became the centre of the Melk Reform movement which reinvigorated the monastic life of Austria and Southern Germany. Today's

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

abbey was built between 1702 and 1736 to designs by Jakob Prandtauer. Particularly noteworthy are the abbey church with

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

s by

Johann Michael Rottmayr Johann Michael Rottmayr (11 December 1656 – 25 October 1730) was an Austrian painter. Biography Rottmayr was born in Laufen an der Salzach, Bavaria. Along with his Laufen-born contemporary, Hans Adam Weissenkircher, he received his educ ...

and Paul Troger. In the later eighteenth century, Abbey of Melk became a center of Enlightenment thought and social exchange; there was even a

Masonic lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

there, since a number of monks were Freemasons. Due to its fame and academic stature, the Benedictine monastery Melk managed to escape dissolution under Emperor Joseph II when many other Austrian abbeys were seized and dissolved between 1780 and 1790. Today the Danube between

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

is renowned for the numerous medieval and modern buildings along the river banks. The abbey also survived threats to its existence during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

and in the period following the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and now serves nearly 900 pupils of both sexes. Since 1625 the abbey has been a member of the Austrian Congregation, now within the Benedictine Confederation. In his novel '' The Name of the Rose'',

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian Medieval studies, medievalist, philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular ...

named one of the medieval protagonists "Adso of Melk" as a tribute to the famous abbey. Melk Abbey is also the metaphorical climax ("a peak in a mountain range of discovery") of Patrick Leigh Fermor's autobiographical account of his walking tour across Europe in '' A Time of Gifts''. The abbey is part of Wachau Cultural Landscape, a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Restoration efforts

The first fire at Melk Abbey and its invaluable library was in 1297. This left the structures destroyed. Most of the manuscripts Melk is famous for housing were saved by monks. During the 1683 Turkish invasion, the Melk Abbey also suffered severe damages. The abbey that stands today, built in 1702, caught fire in 1974. This fire marred the ornamented rooms and damaged the interior and its art, leading to its restoration from 1978 to 1995. The nave of the abbey was a part of the restoration. Eight pounds of gold bullion were used to restore the statues and altars. The Marble Hall, a popular guest attraction, was also restored during this period. In July 2019, Christine Glaßner, from the Austrian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medieval Research, while researching the abbey's archives, discovered a previously unknown strip of parchment that bears 60 partial lines of the poem '' Der Rosendorn,'' what commentators called the first ''Vagina Monologues''. The parchment, which had been subsequently recycled into the binding of a much later book, has been dated to around 1300; this is nearly 200 years earlier than it was previously thought to have been written.

Euro commemorative coin

Melk Abbey was selected as the main motif of a 10 euro collectors' coin: the Austrian Melk Abbey commemorative coin, minted on April 18, 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 St. Peter) can be seen.

Notable people

* Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, organist at the abbey from 1759 through 1766 * Franz Schneider, organist at the abbey from 1766 through 1812.

Gallery

Melk - Stift (0).JPG, West view of Melk Abbey Stift Melk Nordseite 01.jpg, North side of Melk Abbey and entry of Melk river into the

Melk - Stift.JPG, View from the south 070526 Stift Melk 02.jpg, Main entrance 070526 Stift Melk 03.jpg, Prelate's courtyard 070525 Stift Melk 01.jpg, Melk Abbey at night Melk Stift Altstadt.jpg, Melk Abbey at night from the old town Melk Abbey aerial view 001.jpg, Aerial view Melk90.jpg, Leopold Altar, painting by Georg Bachman (1650) 05 Melk.JPG, Choir stalls 04Melk.JPG, Pulpit Stiftskirche Melk Deckenfresken 01.JPG, The ceiling Melk - Abbey - Library.jpg, Melk Abbey Library 070526 Stift Melk 09.jpg, Staircase between the library and church Stift Melk church dsc01494.jpg, Church of the Abbey StiftMelkDeckenfresken.jpg,

Fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

ed ceiling of the church StiftMelkKuppel.jpg, Cupola of the church The Triumph of the Monk by Johann Michael Rottmayr - Melk Abbey Austria.jpg, The Triumph of the Monk, by

Melk Abbey.JPG, Melk Abbey Stift Melk 004.jpg, Melk Abbey Melk18.jpg, Margravine Swanhilde's altar, eleventh century St. Benedict's triumphal ascent to heaven by Johann Michael Rottmayr - Melk Abbey Austria.jpg, St. Benedict's triumphal ascent to Heaven, also by Rottmayr Ceiling painting of the Marble Hall - Melk Abbey - Austria.jpg, Painting on the ceiling of the marble hall Topografia 1672 Vischer Moelckh.jpg, Melk Abbey in 1672, before its renovation by Jakob Prandtauer.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Churches completed in 1736 Benedictine monasteries in Austria 1089 establishments in Europe Christian monasteries established in the 1080s Monasteries in Lower Austria Baroque architecture in Austria Tourist attractions in Lower Austria 11th-century establishments in Austria Melk Establishments in the Margraviate of Austria