Melk Abbey |
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Melk Abbey
Melk is best known as the site of a massive baroque
Benedictine monastery named Stift Melk.
Melk Abbey or Stift Melk is an Austrian Benedictine abbey, and one of the
world's most famous monastic sites. It is located above the town of Melk on a
rocky outcrop overlooking the river Danube in Lower Austria, adjoining the
Wachau valley.
The abbey was founded in 1089 when Leopold II, Margrave of Austria gave one
of his castles to Benedictine monks from Lambach Abbey. A school was founded in
the 12th century, and the monastic library soon became renowned for its
extensive manuscript collection. The monastery's scriptorium was also a major
site for the production of manuscripts. In the 15th century the abbey became the
centre of the Melk Reform movement which reinvigorated the monastic life of
Austria and Southern Germany.
Today's impressive Baroque abbey was built between 1702 and 1736 to designs
by Jakob Prandtauer. Particularly noteworthy is the abbey church with frescos by
Johann Michael Rottmayr and the impressive library with countless medieval
manuscripts, including a famed collection of musical manuscripts and frescos by
Paul Troger.
Continued below.
Photo 124, 1985
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Melk Abbey
Due to its fame and academic stature, Melk managed to escape dissolution
under Emperor Joseph II when many other Austrian abbeys were seized and
dissolved between 1780 and 1790. The abbey managed to survive other threats to
its existence during the Napoleonic Wars, and also in the period following the
Nazi Anschluss that took control of Austria 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 and now
caters for nearly 900 pupils of both sexes.
Since 1625 the abbey has been a member of the Austrian Congregation, now
within the Benedictine Confederation.
In his well-known novel The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco named one of the
protagonists "Adso von Melk" as a tribute to the abbey and its famous library.
Photo 125, 1985
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Melk Abbey
Photo 126, 1985
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Melk Abbey, Baroque Chapel
Photo 127, 1985
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Melk Abbey
Photo 128, 1985
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Melk Abbey
Photo 129, 1985
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Town of Melk, from Abbey
Photo 130, 1985
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Melk Abbey
Photo 131, 1985
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Melk Abbey
Photo 132, 1985
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Melk Abbey
Photo 133, 1985
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Melk Abbey
Photo 134, 1985
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