Mondsee Abbey () was 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 ...

monastery in Mondsee in

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

History

The region of the ''Mondseeland'', in which Mondsee is located, was formerly part of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. Mondsee Abbey was founded in 748"Things to See in Mondsee", Frommer's
/ref> by

Odilo, Duke of Bavaria Odilo, also Oatilo or Uatilo (died 18 January 748) of the Agilolfings, Agilolfing dynasty was List of rulers of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria from 737 until his death in 748. He had the ''Lex Baiuvariorum'' compilation edited, the first ancient Germani ...

on the ruins of a Roman settlement.

According to legend, Duke Odilo was in the area with his wife and large entourage, got lost and was surprised by the night. He was at risk of falling high on a rock. But when the moon came out between the clouds, it made the water surface of the lake shine deep, which made the Duke aware of the danger. In gratitude for his salvation, Duke Odilo vowed to have a monastery built on the shores of the lake and gave the lake the name "Mondsee".

The abbey tradition was that the first monks came from the St Peter's abbey of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

and others also from

Monte Cassino The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic Church, Catholic, Benedictines, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Valle Latina, Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient ...

in Italy. In 788, after the fall of Duke Tassilo III, Mondsee became an Imperial abbey and over the centuries acquired extensive property. Mondsee had a very active scriptorium and became an important centre for book production in Upper Austria. Around 800 the '' Codex Millenarius'', an illustrated Latin book of the Gospels was written at the abbey. Around the year 810, monks at Mondsee Abbey translated the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

from Latin into Old High German. The surviving fragments represent the oldest known translation of any part of the Bible into Old High German. In 831 King

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...

gave the monastery to Regensburg Cathedral. Wolfgang of Regensburg, Bishop of Ratisbon, spent a year at Mondsee in 976. It was not until 1142 that it regained its independence, under Abbot Conrad II, otherwise Conrad of Mondsee. Conrad, formerly a monk of Siegburg Abbey, had been abbot of Mondsee since 1127, and was extremely successful in defending and regaining the rights and possessions of the monastery, to the extent that in 1145 he was murdered by a group of nobles at Oberwang nearby. He was venerated as a martyr and declared Blessed. Conrad was succeeded as abbot by Walter of Mondsee (died 17 May 1158), long remembered as a model by the community for his exemplary striving after virtue. He was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the abbey church. In 1506 possession of the ''Mondseeland'' passed from Bavaria to Austria. In 1514 Abbot Wolfgang Haberl established the abbey grammar school. After a period of decline during the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

and the consequent disturbances, the abbey entered a new period of prosperity. Under Abbot Bernhard Lidl (1727–73) and especially in connection with the celebration of the thousandth anniversary of the foundation, there was extensive re-building of the church and the monastic premises. From 1773 the abbot was Opportunus II Dunkl, who was the last abbot of Mondsee: in 1791 the abbey was dissolved by Emperor Leopold II. Many of its manuscripts were transferred to what are today the Austrian National Library, the State Library of Upper Austria and the State Archive of Upper Austria. From 1625 until its dissolution the abbey was a member of the Benedictine Austrian Congregation. During the Napoleonic period the ''Mondseeland'' reverted to Bavaria for a few years. During that time, in 1810, the Bavarian Field Marshal Prince Karl Philipp von Wrede acquired the abandoned monastery (along with the nearby abbeys of Suben and Gleink), and used it as a castle. Wrede remained the owner even after the return of the territory to Austria and significantly developed the locality, for example by the construction of roads and the establishment of local cheese production. In 1905, on the death of Princess Ignazia von Wrede, Mondsee passed to the Counts Almeida, whose descendants sold it in 1985.

Basilica of St. Michael

The abbey church of St. Michael became the parish church. The altarpiece is designed as a giant reliquary, containing, among others, the jeweled skeleton of Abbot Konrad II."The Altar of the Basilica of St. Michael", Atlas Obscura
/ref>

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

upgraded the church to a basilica in 2005.

Filmography

The wedding scene from ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'' was filmed in the location.Hirsch 1993, pp. 106–108.

Gallery

Mondsee - Kloster.JPG, Mondsee Abbey Meister von Mondsee - Flucht nach Ägypten - 4827 - Kunsthistorisches Museum.jpg , Flight into Egypt, high altar, Mondsee Abbey church Handschriften-Rara LBOOE.jpg , Fragment of a 9th-century ''Homiliarums'' (biblical interpretation) from Mondsee Abbey in Carolingian minuscule Mondsee Kirche - Innenraum 1.jpg , St Michael parish church in Mondsee — interior with gothic vaults (15th century) Mondsee Kirche - Orgel.jpg , St Michael parish church in Mondsee — Organ (1674) Mondsee Kirche - Marienalta Gesamt.jpg , St Michael parish church in Mondsee — Altar of Annunciation (1680) by Meinrad Guggenbichler

References

External links