Vorau Abbey is an

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

of the Austrian Congregation of Canons Regular located in

Vorau Vorau is a municipality in the Hartberg-Fürstenfeld District in Styria, Austria. It is home to the Vorau Abbey Vorau Abbey is an abbey of the Austrian Congregation of Canons Regular located in Vorau, Styria, Austria. Founded in 1163, it co ...

, Styria, Austria. Founded in 1163, it contains an ornate Viennese High Baroque

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...

and library that date to the 18th century.

History

Vorau Abbey was founded in 1163 by Margrave

Ottokar III of Styria Ottokar III (1124 – December 31, 1164) was Margrave of Styria from 1129 until 1164. Biography He was the son of Leopold the Strong and Sophia of Bavaria, and father of Ottokar IV, the last of the dynasty of the Otakars. His wife was Kuni ...

as an act of gratitude for the birth of his son, Ottokar IV. He donated lands to the

Archbishop of Salzburg The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg ( la, Archidioecesis Salisburgensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria. The archdiocese is one of two Austrian archdioceses, serving alongside the Archdiocese ...

, Eberhard I, who oversaw the abbey's construction. The Austrian Congregation of Canons Regular took up residence upon its completion. The territory in which the abbey is located was the subject of frequent invasion by neighboring countries. Therefore, the abbey was walled in 1458 and many defensive features were built, including

towers A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...

, a moat and iron bars at the entrance. With 15 towers, the abbey has more than any other

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

in Austria. With such defenses, the residents of Vorau often sought refuge inside the monastery during time of invasion. The abbey's first

was built in the Romanesque style, following a fire in 1237. The church was later redesigned in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style. It was again rebuilt from 1660 to 1662, designed by Swiss architect . In 1700, the church was finally redesigned by

Matthias Steinl Matthias Steinl (otherwise Steindel, Staindle, Steindl or Stinle) (c. 1644–18 April 1727) was an Austrian painter, architect and designer, and one of the country's best known Baroque art, Baroque sculptors. Together with Johann Bernhard Fisc ...

in the Viennese High Baroque style. Its

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganis ...

was built from 1701 to 1704, while the pulpit dates to 1706. The sacristy is decorated with frescoes by , the abbey's resident painter, who created them in 1715 and 1716. Writing in the '' New Catholic Encyclopedia'', local librarian and archivist Pius Fank described the church as the "most splendid baroque church in Styria." The abbey's library was built in 1731. It contains 40,000 books, 206 incunabula, and 416

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

s, as well as the oldest collection of

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...

poems. In April 1940, the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

government commandeered the abbey, expelling its canons. It was subject to heavy bombardment during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Half of the abbey was destroyed in 1945, though the majority of destruction was confined to outlying farm buildings; the main building, including the church, was largely spared. The abbey's library was significantly damaged during the war, and about 5,000 books were stolen. The canons returned to the monastery after the end of the war in 1945. The complex remains an active abbey. Parts of it are also used as a school, tavern, and private residences.

Gallery

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vorau Abbey Augustinian monasteries in Austria Monasteries in Styria 1163 establishments in Europe 12th-century establishments in Austria Establishments in the Duchy of Styria