Description:
The tour of the buildings starts by ascending the Imperial Stairs, or in our case, with a stroller present via the convenient elevator to the left of the impressive staircase. The Kaisergang (Imperial Gallery) is close to 200m long and provides access to rooms reserved for important visitors. In this area is the museum with several artworks and a large collection of religious vestments and paraphernalia. The museum not only has a strong religious theme, but is laid out as a journey of contemplation. However, on this busy Sunday afternoon, there was little peace in the crowded rooms, and even the most devout of pilgrims would have had a difficult time to find an opportunity for inner reflection. I particularly enjoyed the treasure chest in Room 10 – they certainly did not fool around when constructing locks during the middle ages.
More impressive than the museum are the sights that follow immediately afterwards. First up is the Marmorsaal (Marble Hall), a large baroque room of imitation marble and fine stuccos. The fresco is Greek mythology and features Emperor Charles IV, who liked to have thought of himself as the reincarnation of Hercules, a notion popular with several Roman emperors, but somewhat rarer in the Christian Holy Roman Empire. Note the inscription Hospites tamquam Christus suscipiantur – Guests should be received as if they were Christ. (Presumably, the €7 admission fee will be waived at the second coming!)
From here, exit the building onto the elegant terrace that affords excellent views of the Danube and the magnificent baroque façade of the abbey. From the pilasters and curved frontons to the flaming urns, onion domes, and the finial, this façade does not contain a single element that could not be described as anything but typically baroque.
The tour continues at the far end of the terrace, where one enters the main hall of the library. Similar to the Marmorsaal, this room is two stories high, but the fresco represents faith rather than Greek mythology. The gilded statues represent the four faculties: theology, philosophy, medicine, and law. This room houses 16,000 of the library’s around 100,000 volumes, which includes 1,888 hand-copied works, 750 pre-1500 prints, and 1,700 works from the 16th century. (The monastery sold its Gutenberg Bible to Harvard University to pay for the restoration of the complex.)
A spiral staircase with a Rococo railing leads from an adjacent room directly into the church. Viewed from below, the spiral staircase looks like a giant snake. The interior of the abbey church is another baroque masterpiece with no surface left unadorned. The dominating colors are gold and red-brown. The frescos and some of the altar paintings are by baroque master Johann Michael Rottmayer. Paul Troger, who did the frescos in the previous show rooms, painted most of the altar paintings. The church is consecrated to St Peter and St Paul, who are featured on the high altar. (Admission to the church itself is free if entered from the ground floor.)
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