St. Lambrecht's Abbey

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St. Lambrecht's Abbey (Stift St. Lambrecht) is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Sankt Lambrecht in the Styrian Grebenzen nature reserve in Austria. The monastery is located 1072 meters above sea level.

1 History
2 Landmarks
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

The monastery was founded in 1076 by Count Markward of Eppenstein; it was dissolved from 1786 to 1805. In 1938, the building was seized by the National Socialists. From 1942 to 1945, it was used as an external storage facility of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp. The monks returned in 1946.

Locally the two churches within the monastic grounds are called the Grosskirche (big church -the Stiftskirche) and the Kleinkirche (the little church - die Peterskirche). During restoration work of the Gross kirche in the early 1970s extraordinary frescos dating from the 2nd half of the 15th century were discovered - the Northwall frescos. These show the throne of Solomon. On the lowest level is depicted the Old Testament judgement of Solomon, above this the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus,and above all else Jesus Christ: "the Flesh become the Word of God (logos)". Other frescos dating from the 14th century depict St. Christopher and St. Agnes. Formerly in the monastery was a votive altarpiece from which the Master of the Saint Lambrecht Votive Altarpiece received his name.

The abbey is a member of the Austrian Congregation within the Benedictine Confederation.

[edit] Landmarks

The early Baroque monastic buildings
The monastery museum with its art collection
The folklore museum of Father Romuald Pramberger and the bird museum of Father Blasius Hanf
The Gothic abbey church
The Peterskirche (founded 1424)