The Benedictines' Abbey of Admont is located in the Austrian province of Styria and is the oldest existing monastery in the region. Its origins date back to the foundation of Saint Hemma of Gurk. After the death of her husband Wilhelm The Second, she was one of the richest women of her time.
In 1074, Archbishop Gebhard Of Salzburg was given the financial means of which to build the monastery. The first monks came from the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter, in Salzburg and Admont Abbey quickly became important as a spiritual and cultural centre through its scriptorium, which was established in the twelth century.
During the Baroque period in around 1735, under architect Johann Gotthard Hayberger, a generous reconstruction of the monastery complex began. In 1865 a great fire destroyed the entire monastery, with the exception of the library.
Reconstruction was carried out according to Romanesque and Gothic design and one of the first large neo-Gothic sacred buildings in Austria was erected.
The world-famous library of Admont Abbey is located in the east wing of the monastery. In the past, the ceremonial hall was called the "Eighth Wonder of the World", a place that has no equal. Seventy metres long, fourteen metres wide and eleven metres high it is the largest monastic library in the world.
The monastery is surrounded by a pond in whose calm water the magnificent site is reflected. Adjacent, the original Baroque ornamental garden was replaced by the Admont flower and herb garden.
There were no real differences in rank in the Benedictine Order. Only how long a monk belonged to the Order defined their ranking. The monastic life of the Benedictines is characterized by community and prayer: „Ora Et Labora“.
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