Lambach Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Lambach

Lambach

Lambach is a market town in the Wels-Land district of Upper Austria, Austria, on the Ager and Traun Rivers. It has a population of 3,242 as of 2001. A major stop on the salt trade, it is the site of the Lambach Abbey, built around 1056.-Notable inhabitants:...

 in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

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History

A monastery was founded in about 1040 by Bishop Adalbero of Würzburg

Adalbero of Würzburg

Adalbero of Würzburg was Bishop of Würzburg and Count of Lambach-Wels.-Life:He was the son of Count Arnold II of Lambach in Upper Austria and his wife the Countess Reginlint. He was born around 1010 in Lambach an der Traun...

 (later canonised), which since 1056 has been a Benedictine abbey. During the 17th and 18th centuries a great deal of work in the Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 style was carried out, much of it by the Carlone family. Lambach escaped the dissolution of the monasteries of Emperor Joseph II

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...

 in the 1780s. It was however dissolved by the National Socialists

National Socialist German Workers Party

The National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party , existed from 1919 to 1920...

 in 1941, in the Operation Klostersturm, and the premises were used for the accommodation of a Nazi school and training institution. The Benedictines were exiled or forced into state labour work. In 1897/98 Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 had lived in the town of Lambach (with his parents). He went to the secular Volksschule at which Benedictine teachers were employed. The dispossessed monastic community returned to Lambach Abbey after the end of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

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Hitler had seen several swastikas each day as a boy in Lambach, when he attended the Benedictine monastery school, which was decorated with carved stones and woodwork that included the symbol. This would appear to contradict the claim that he attended a secular school.

Cultural features

The abbey has preserved much of cultural interest. It contains the oldest extant Romanesque frescoes in Southern Germany and Austria, and the former abbey tavern, now a pharmacy, with a beautiful Baroque facade. The abbey's Baroque theatre has also been restored to working order and the summer refectory from the early 18th century by Carlo Antonio Carlone has been converted into a concert hall. The ambulatory

Ambulatory

The ambulatory is the covered passage around a cloister. The term is sometimes applied to the procession way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar....

 by Diego Carlone from the same period is of great magnificence. An unexpected feature is the set of Baroque dwarves in the monastery garden (see also Gleink Abbey

Gleink Abbey

Gleink Abbey was a Benedictine monastery located at the city of Steyr in Austria.-Benedictine abbey:It was founded in the early 12th century, shortly after the foundation of Garsten Abbey, by the local nobleman, Arnhalm I of Glunich, who gave his castle for conversion to a monastery...

).

The abbey church was also refurbished in the Baroque style, with an organ by Christoph Egedacher and contains the tomb of Saint Adelbero. The abbey also possesses the medieval "St. Adelbero's Chalice", although it is rarely on view to the public, besides a large collection of sacred art. The library was constructed about 1691 and contains approximately 50,000 volumes besides archive material.

Since 1625 the abbey has belonged to the Austrian Congregation

Austrian Congregation

The Austrian Congregation is a congregation of Benedictine monasteries situated in Austria, within the Benedictine Confederation.-History:The Congregation was founded on 3 August 1625 by Pope Urban VIII, and consisted of eleven Benedictine monasteries in Austria:*Altenburg Abbey*Garsten...

 now within the Benedictine Confederation

Benedictine Confederation

The Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict is the international governing body of the Order of Saint Benedict.-Origin:...

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External links

Lambach Abbey website