I am a huge fan of the Mini-series Downton Abbey. If Matthew Crawley and Lady Mary don’t wake up and recognize they belong together in season three, I’m going to have to write the producers in Britain and let them know I’m getting terribly frustrated. I can’t imagine how Lady Mary and Matthew are coping. Golden Globe and Emmy notwithstanding, it’s time they bring some of the drama to a climax.
Needless to say, when Jimmy and I had the chance to see the magnificent Melk Abbey in Austria last month, I jumped at the opportunity. I know, Melk doesn’t quite have the aristocratic ring of Downton , nor is it home to a wealthy British Earl and his three beautiful daughters (the Melk Abbey is home to 900 students and a handful of Benedictine monks and nuns), but the Melk Abbey does hail as one of the world’s most famous Baroque monastic sites.
Needless to say, when Jimmy and I had the chance to see the magnificent Melk Abbey in Austria last month, I jumped at the opportunity. I know, Melk doesn’t quite have the aristocratic ring of Downton , nor is it home to a wealthy British Earl and his three beautiful daughters (the Melk Abbey is home to 900 students and a handful of Benedictine monks and nuns), but the Melk Abbey does hail as one of the world’s most famous Baroque monastic sites.
As far as castles go, this one takes the prize for Baroqueness.
It seems Melk Abbey boasts the rare distinction of surviving as an active Benedictine monastery continuously since 1089, when Leopold II, Margrave of Austria, gave his castle (designed by Austrian architect, Jakob Prandtauer and rebuilt over the period 1702-1736), to the Benedictine monks from Lambach Abbey. They moved in lickety split, established a monastic school, the Stiftsgymnasium Melk in the 12th century and then held on for dear life throughout the Middle Ages, the Napoleonic War, as well as World Wars I and II.
Several factors contributed to the abbey’s unusual safe passage for the last 900 plus years. The monastery’s scriptorium became a major site for the production of manuscripts, contributing to the abbey’s extensive and renowned collection housed in the library (pictures were strictly forbidden), although I did take a picture of a framed picture. It’s not the best, which I usually reserve for you, but it’s all I had to work with.
Several factors contributed to the abbey’s unusual safe passage for the last 900 plus years. The monastery’s scriptorium became a major site for the production of manuscripts, contributing to the abbey’s extensive and renowned collection housed in the library (pictures were strictly forbidden), although I did take a picture of a framed picture. It’s not the best, which I usually reserve for you, but it’s all I had to work with.
I'm glad I don't have to dust all 16,000 of the manuscripts that line the 30 foot walls from floor to ceiling.
During the 15th century, the abbey became the center of the Melk Reform movement which reinvigorated the monastic life of Austria and Southern Germany. The abbey's influence undoubtedly helped save the monastery from Emperor Joseph II several centuries later when so many other Austrian abbeys were seized and dissolved.
Just a simple house of worship within the walls of the abbey.
The school and a large part of the abbey were occupied by German troops in 1938 during the Anschluss (annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany). Native son Adolph Hitler (he was born in the municipality of Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary) was welcomed back by most of the German-speaking population of Austria, which undoubtedly contributed to the abbey being spared the bombings so much of Europe suffered during World War II.
At first I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, which would have been a load off my mind.
I could feel the immense power and grandeur of the church envelop me as we walked through two separate gates leading to the abbey’s innermost courtyard.
I love the color scheme. I'm into golds right now.
If I'm relegated to washing windows, I'll know this isn't heaven!
It was easy to see the abbey's draw, cloistered and protected from the harsh realities of medieval life within these exquisite walls and lush gardens in exhange for the Benedictine
Where did they hide the satallite dish?
vows of obedience, celibacy and poverty. Well, the celibacy piece wouldn’t be easy, knowing what I know now as a wife and mother.
I know, looking out at the town of Melk from the abbey's lofty position, I could hear history’s heartbeat pounding in my ears (of course, it could have just been the windy day).
I know, looking out at the town of Melk from the abbey's lofty position, I could hear history’s heartbeat pounding in my ears (of course, it could have just been the windy day).
With all this money and power at my disposal, I still couldn't seem to get anyone's attention.
I felt small and insignificant standing in that spot in the 21st century; I couldn’t imagine those who walked before me in the streets below, living in the shadow of such wealth and power. There are few grandeur displays of the immensity of the religious and political forces that have shaped society as the Melk Abbey. I can't imagine living at a time when so few (nobility or religious) had so much, so many others so little.
In the big picture, history is rarely as comforting as it is enlightening.
Monday, I’ll share more of the history of Melk Abbey and a view of the interior of this magnificent Baroque castle and abbey.
In the big picture, history is rarely as comforting as it is enlightening.
Monday, I’ll share more of the history of Melk Abbey and a view of the interior of this magnificent Baroque castle and abbey.
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