St. Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal (Stift Sankt Paul) is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Sankt Paul im Lavanttal in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
History
The abbey was founded in 1091 by the Spanheim Dukes of Carinthia
on the site of their ancestral castle.
In 1787 Emperor Joseph II dissolved it, but in 1809, under the
Prince-Abbot Dr. Berthold Rottler, monks from St. Blaise's Abbey in
the Black Forest, which had also just been dissolved, moved into
the premises. In 1940 the abbey was dissolved again by the National
Socialists but the monks were able to return when it was reopened
in 1947. Today it is the oldest operational monastery in
Carinthia.
From 1641 the abbey was a member of the Salzburg Congregation,
which in 1930 was merged into the present Austrian Congregation of
the Benedictine Confederation.
Abbey
church
Within the abbey precinct there is a Romanesque basilica dating
from the end of the 12th century. After a fire in 1367 a Gothic
vaulted ceiling was added, painted with 44 frescoes by the Tyrolean
masters Friedrich and Michael Pacher.
The interior decoration of the church by the Styrian artist
Philipp Jakob Straub dates from the 18th century. Beneath the
Baroque high altar is a crypt, in which are the coffins of 13
members of the Habsburg family.
See also
- St. Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal was recently selected as the
main motif of a very high value collectors' coin: the Austrian St.
Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal commemorative coin, minted on October
10, 2007. The obverse displays a view of the abbey buildings
nestling on the wooded hill above the town while the reverse shows
the South Portal of the church; built in 1618.
- The abbey possesses one of the largest collections of art in
Europe, including graphics, coins, sacred art, and paintings by
among others Rubens, Van Dyck, Dürer, Holbein and Kremser Schmidt,
as well as an extensive and important library of over 180,000 books
and manuscripts from between the 5th and 18th centuries.
- The Benedictines of St. Paul also run a secondary school
("Gymnasium").
- In 2010 the Benedictines of St. Paul published a
music-production: "The Voices of God - Die Klanggesänge der
Benediktiner/Stift St. Paul im Lavanttal", traditional Gregorian
Chants with new instruments and compositions.
References
-
Schatzhaus Kärntens. Landesausstellung St. Paul 1991. 900
Jahre Benediktinerstift. Band I: Katalog. Universitätsverlag
Carinthia, Klagenfurt 1991. ISBN 3-85378-376-7
-
Schatzhaus Kärntens. Landesausstellung St. Paul 1991. 900
Jahre Benediktinerstift. Band II: Beiträge. Universitätsverlag
Carinthia, Klagenfurt 1991. ISBN 3-85378-377-5
-
Österreichische Kunsttopographie. Band 37: Die
Kunstdenkmäler des Benediktinerstiftes St. Paul im Lavanttal und
seiner Filialkirchen, ed. Karl Ginhart. Vienna 1969.
-
The Voices of God. Die Klanggesänge der Benediktiner/Stift
St. Paul im Lavanttal, Haarlem Records, ISRC
9-120041-100000
External
links
Шаблон:Commons