Stift Altenburg, Lower Austria, Austria

5AandL_10 5:00 PM Jul 10, 2014

A Hidden Treasure
One of Austria’s hidden treasures, this monastery dates from 1144. After several centuries of war, raids, invasions and other disasters, it was renovated in the 17th and 18th centuries in the high baroque and rococo style that also defines its better known brother, the abbey at Melk. What makes Altenburg so much fun is its combination of seriously beautiful art and architecture, its gorgeous location, and its playful, cheeky, and sometimes bizarre artistic forays into the grotesque. The Abbey Church puts you at the center of the Benedictine desire for order and symmetry in a way that assaults the senses with sinuous lines, marbled walls, plaster putto with rascally expressions, and over-the-top allegorical frescos by Paul Troger. He also painted the fresco over the grand staircase, which leads to the imperial wing where royalty stayed and features the emperor Joseph II as Apollo the Sun King demonstrating how Faith and the arts and sciences can peacefully co-exist. In the basement, one finds frescos by Troger’s students depicting racy scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and a crypt with some remarkable depictions based on Totendanz or the Dance of Death theme: skeletons dancing with 18th century ladies, a vain woman turning to her mirror and seeing only a skull, all intertwined with images of Christ triumphing over death and Masonic symbols. The library is also amazing, and the gardens interesting. Most signs are only in German, and the Abbey would undoubtedly draw more visitors if they added more English captions to the exhibits and rooms. You can ask for an information sheet in English at the ticket counter. Well worth the trip. Altenburg is a nice 50 minute drive from Krems an der Donau.

5CGA79 5:00 PM Aug 27, 2017

Best abbey in Austria
Tremendous hidden gem. Well restore, interesting, fascinating, engrossing self tour. The English paper guide is a little choppy, but frankly the sights and art and restoration are simply amazing. The restoration includes the Medieval original church excavations, which is simply awesome. We also ate at the cafe, which was nearly empty, and had a superb lunch at 1430 hours. The actual church tour is free, which I recommend for anyone, but that simply is a teaser for the restoration and self tour. I wish they had taken the time for an audio guide, but the written tour is .... Ok I will repeat .... Amazing . To us, this was better than Melk Abbey and far more personally engaging.