Danube River Cruise #35: Gottweig Benedictine Abbey, Krems Austria

Tom took this pic of the Abbey from the main courtyard

In today's travel blog, were continuing to explore Krebs, Austria. In the last blog we explored the wineries here. Today, we'll focus on the Gottweig Benedictine Abbey, tell you about the history, show you a famous Fresco and see the music room with Don and Mary Margaret! Read On!

ABOUT THE ABBEY - Göttweig Abbey is a baroque Benedictine monastery. It was founded in 1083 as a proprietary monastery by Altmann, Bishop of Passau. It became a Benedictine monastery in 1094. It was newly built in its current baroque form in the early 18th centuryy according to plans by J.-L. von Hildebrandt.

300 year old wooden inlaid floors

TOM IMPRESSED WITH THE FLOORS - There were 300 year old wooden inlaid floors that caught Tom's attention.  

WHAT DOES IT CONSIST OF? - Göttweig became a famous seat of learning and strict monastic observance. There is a monastic school, a library, and at the foot of the hill, a nunnery.

Top of the stairs

RUN BY MONKS - It serves as a spiritual center in the heart of Lower Austria and is run by a community of about 45 monks.

BEAUTIFUL STAIRCASE AND FRESCO (Ceiling Mural) - In the museum in the imperial wing, was saw the monumental imperial staircase with the ceiling fresco by Paul Troger from 1739. , one of the largest and most beautiful baroque staircases in Europe.

Looking at the Fresco from the stairs

The Fresco

Mary Margaret and Don pose by the Piano

WHAT'S THE FRESCO ABOUT? The fresco decorating the imperial staircase is considered a masterpiece of Baroque architecture in Austria. Executed by Paul Troger in 1739, it represents the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI as Apollo. 

The huge music room

THE HUGE MUSIC ROOM - One of the last rooms in the tour is the music room. It was hue, and it had massive murals on the walls, rows of chairs and 1 piano. We stopped there, because our friend Don teaches piano, and Tom plays piano for fun. 


BIG FIRE IN 1580 - Almost entirely wiped out the monastery.

Architect's Schematic of the entire Abbey

ABANDONED FOR 50 YEARS - During the 15th and 16th centuries, the abbey declined so that between 1556 and 1564 it had no abbot at all, and in 1564 not a single monk was left here. .Michael Herrlich, a monk of Melk Abbey, was placed there as abbot to bring it back. The new abbot held his office until 1603, restored the monastery spiritually and financially, and rebuilt it after it had been almost entirely destroyed by fire in 1580.

BURNT DOWN ON PURPOSE AND REBUILT! - In 1718 the monastery burnt down and was rebuilt on a grander scale during the abbacy of Gottfried Bessel (1714–1749) to designs by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt[1] inspired by the Escorial.



FOR INFO ABOUT THE ABBEY, visit: It's open from March to October. 

NEXT HOW TO BECOME A MONK, THE CHURCH, AND A CREEPY SKULL