Admont Monastery

Today, the Benedictine monastery of Admont is the oldest remaining monastery in Styria. The monastery was founded in 1074 by Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg, and the first monks came from the Benedictine monastery of St. Peter in Salzburg. In 1120 a nunnery following the same Benedictine rule was joined. The nuns had a good reputation because of their education and literary activities. The nunnery ceased to exist in the Reformation period.

In 1735 the architect Johann Gotthard Hayberger started the baroque reconstruction of the monastery which was continued by the master builder Josef Hueber from Graz. In 1865 the whole monastery was destroyed by fire, just the library could be saved. In the following years, the monastery was rebuilt. The church was rebuilt on the old basement and today it is the highest neo-gothic sacral building in Austria. In the 1930s, during the economic crisis, the monastery was forced to sell several art treasures. Under the Nazi regime, the monastery was dispossessed and just in 1945 the monks could return.

Today Admont Monastery is a spiritual, cultural and economical centre of national importance. The abbey is responsible for 26 parishes and runs an old people’s home and a secondary school with 500 pupils.

Source:
www.stiftadmont.at
Image source:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stift_Admont_1.jpg