Sonntagberg is a town in the district of Amstetten in

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 ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. It is an important pilgrimage location for Catholics. Its basilica church is often cited as one of the most beautiful buildings in the area.

Geography

Sonntagberg lies in the

Mostviertel ''Mostviertel'' (; English: Most (wine), Most'' Quarter') is the southwestern quarter of the four quarters of Lower Austria (the northeast state of the 9 states in Austria). It is bordered on the north by the Danube and to the south and west ...

in Lower

. About 29 percent of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

is forested.

Landmarks

It has a baroque church that was, in its current form, built in 1706–1732 by

Jakob Prandtauer Jakob Prandtauer (baptized in Stanz bei Landeck (Tyrol) on 16 July 1660; died in Sankt Pölten on 16 September 1726) was an Austrian Baroque architect. Career Prandtauer was responsible for the baroque refurbishment of medieval abbeys in Austr ...

and Joseph Munggenast. The ceilings were painted by

Daniel Gran Daniel Gran (22 May 1694 in Vienna – 16 April 1757 in Sankt Pölten), was an Austrian painter. His pictures ornament several public buildings in his native city. He was of some consideration in his time and after a century of Italian dom ...

(1738–43). In 1964,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

gave it the title

Basilica minor Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural ...

. For a short while, Sonntagberg was the location of what would then become

Summerhill School Summerhill School is an independent (i.e. fee-charging) day and boarding school in Leiston, Suffolk, England. It was founded in 1921 by Alexander Sutherland Neill with the belief that the school should be made to fit the child, rather than ...

References

Cities and towns in Amstetten District {{LowerAustria-geo-stub