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 Melk (; older spelling: ) is a city in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, next to the Wachau valley along the Danube. Melk has a population of 5,257 (as of 2012). It is best known as the site of a massive baroque Benedictine monastery named ...

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 The Wachau () is an Austrian valley formed by the Danube River. It is one of the most prominent tourism in Austria, tourist destinations of Lower Austria, located between the towns of Melk and Krems an der Donau, Krems that attracts epicureans ...

valley. The abbey contains the tomb of Saint Coloman of Stockerau and the remains of several members of the

House of Babenberg The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Descending from the Popponids and originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from ...

, Austria's first ruling dynasty.

History

The abbey was founded in 1089 when

Leopold II, Margrave of Austria Leopold II (1050 – 12 October 1095), known as Leopold the Fair (), a member of the House of Babenberg, was Margrave of Austria from 1075 until his death in 1095. A supporter of the Gregorian Reforms, he was one of the main opponents of the Germa ...

gave one of his castles to Benedictine monks from Lambach Abbey. A monastic school, a forerunner of the

Stiftsgymnasium Melk Stiftsgymnasium Melk () is a Roman Catholic Benedictine-run gymnasium located in Melk, Austria. The gymnasium is located within and run by the well-known monastery Melk Abbey. Founded in the 12th century as a monastic school, it is also the oldes ...

, 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 Paul Troger (30 October 1698 – 20 July 1762) was an Austrian painter, draughtsman, and printmaker of the late Baroque period. Troger's illusionistic ceiling paintings in fresco are notable for their dramatic vitality of movement and their pale ...

. In the later eighteenth century, Abbey of Melk became a center of

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

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 Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. Due to its fame and academic stature, the Benedictine monastery Melk managed to escape dissolution under Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

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

, now within the

Benedictine Confederation The Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict () is the international governing body of the Order of Saint Benedict. Origin The Benedictine Confederation is a union of monastic congregations that nevertheless retain their own aut ...

. In his novel ''

The Name of the Rose ''The Name of the Rose'' ( ) is the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical fiction, historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, and an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, ...

'',

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 Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor (11 February 1915 – 10 June 2011) was an English writer, scholar, soldier and polyglot. He played a prominent role in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War, and was widely seen as Britain's greate ...

'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 The Austrian Academy of Sciences (; ÖAW) is a legal entity under the special protection of the Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every fi ...

' 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 Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (3 February 1736 – 7 March 1809) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist, widely regarded as one of the leading figures in counterpoint and composition theory during the Classical period. He was a prol ...

, 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