Admont Abbey

Admont was founded in the eleventh century, burned almost completely in 1865, and rebuilt, but the library came through the fire intact and is the reason people come. The hall runs about seventy metres under a line of painted cupolas by Bartolomeo Altomonte, shelves and galleries all in white and gold, with carved wooden figures by Josef Stammel standing among the books. The abbey has added a museum of natural history with nineteenth-century cases of insects and mounted animals, and a gallery of contemporary art that sits deliberately awkwardly beside the baroque. The Gesause peaks rise directly behind the church towers.

History

Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg founded the abbey in 1074, dedicated to Saint Blaise, on land left by Hemma of Gurk, with monks from St. Peter's in Salzburg under abbot Isingrin; abbot Wolfhold added a convent school for girls of noble families, the medieval abbey kept a busy scriptorium, and abbot Engelbert, who ruled from 1297 to 1327, was a noted scholar. The Ottoman wars and the Reformation brought a long decline, the Counter-Reformation a revival, and in the 17th and 18th centuries the embroiderer Brother Benno Haan and the sculptor Josef Stammel worked here. On 27 April 1865 a fire destroyed almost the whole monastery, though the library was saved, and rebuilding, begun the next year, was still unfinished in 1890; the abbey sold many treasures in the crises of the 1930s, was closed during the Second World War, and the monks returned in 1946 (Wikipedia, Admont Abbey).

What to look for

• The library hall - the long white and gold room under painted cupolas, the largest of its kind.
• The Stammel sculptures - the carved wooden figures set among the bookcases.
• The natural history museum - the nineteenth-century cabinets of insects, birds and mounted animals.
• The abbey church - the church rebuilt after the fire, with the Gesause peaks behind its towers.

When to go

Open from spring into autumn with reduced winter hours, so check dates if travelling out of season. Bright days light the library best, since the hall depends on daylight through its windows. Coach groups arrive late morning; before eleven or after three is calmer. Pair it with a walk in the Gesause.

Before you go

It is a long way from anywhere: roughly two hours from Salzburg or Vienna by road and longer by train. The library is one room, and once you have looked up at the ceiling the visit shortens fast, which makes the ticket feel expensive. Photography is limited and bags must be left. The modern galleries divide opinion.

Nearby

The Gesause national park and the gorges of the Enns start at the abbey's doorstep.

Key facts