Seitenstetten Abbey
A Benedictine abbey in the Mostviertel with a rose garden of some six hundred varieties and a Troger-painted hall.
Updated 18 October 2026
Seitenstetten was founded in 1112 and rebuilt in the eighteenth century by Joseph Munggenast, and it is sometimes called the Ritterkloster, the knights' abbey, from a tradition that its founder's son died and the monastery was endowed in consequence. The abbey holds a Troger-painted marble hall, a library, a picture gallery with Austrian baroque painting, and a natural history and coin collection built up by the community over centuries. What draws most visitors now is the garden: the Hofgarten was replanted as a rose garden holding something like six hundred varieties, laid out in beds around the abbey walls, at its best in June. The abbey runs a large secondary school, so much of the complex is in daily use and closed to visitors.
History
Udalschalk, a relative of Bishop Ulrich of Passau, founded the monastery in 1112 and gave it all his estates, monks from Göttweig settled it in 1114, and Bishop Ulrich dedicated the church in 1116 and gave it the large parish of Aschbach, with Wolfsbach following in 1142; around 1180 Archbishop Wichmann of Magdeburg granted it wide woods on the Ybbs. After two serious fires and long decline, abbot Benedikt I brought in the Melk Reform and in 1440 built a chapel on the Sonntagberg, founding its pilgrimage; the Hungarian wars, Turkish taxes and the Reformation thinned the community again, abbot Gabriel Sauer restored it after the Thirty Years' War, and abbot Benedikt II Abelzhauser, from 1687 to 1717, commissioned Jakob Prandtauer for the great Baroque rebuilding (Wikipedia, Seitenstetten Abbey).
The main sights
- A rose garden of some 600 varieties - the replanted Hofgarten below the walls.
- Troger's marble hall - the painted state room of the baroque rebuilding.
- Library and picture gallery - the abbey's own collections, including baroque painting.
- A working school - much of the complex in daily educational use.
When to go
May to October; June for the roses. Half a day.
Things to know
Interior access is by guided tour at set times. Much of the abbey is a school and closed. Winter opening is minimal. The roses have a short peak - June is the month.
Nearby
Steyr is west; Melk and the Danube are north-east.
Key facts
Source: Wikidata, item Q385745, read on 18 October 2026.
What to pack for Seitenstetten Abbey
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- Comfortable walking shoes - Sightseeing means kilometres of pavement and cobbles daily. Find on Amazon
- Modest clothing - Shoulders and knees covered - the single most common requirement. Find on Amazon
- A slim anti-theft daypack - Zips that close properly; keep it in front in crowds and on transit. Find on Amazon
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