New exhibition too

Festive mass: Admont Abbey kicks off its anniversary year

The imposing Abbey Library

(Bild: Sepp Pail)

Admont Abbey kicked off its 950th anniversary year on Tuesday: Abbot Gerhard Hafner celebrated the festive mass and opened the special exhibition "Admont 1074 - A journey through the history of the abbey" in the museum.

In 1074, Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg pressed his seal into the hot wax on the parchment, making it the "birth certificate" of the oldest monastery in Styria still in existence today. Hemma von Gurk, a wealthy Carinthian noblewoman who was later canonized, had previously left her properties in Admont to the Benedictines - the monks were to pray for her salvation after her death. Of course, Saint Hemma could never have dreamed that the library, which was completed around 700 years later, would long be considered the "eighth wonder of the world" and make Admont world-famous in the 21st century.

LH Drexler: "Abbey has shaped history for centuries"
To celebrate the 950th anniversary, Abbot Gerhard Hafner celebrated a Holy Mass in the magnificent abbey church on Tuesday. The Tyrolean Bishop Hermann Glettler had originally been scheduled to attend, but he had simply forgotten the date.

Abbot Gerhard Hafner celebrated the festive mass.

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

Minister Martin Polaschek and Governor Christopher Drexler were among those seated in the pews. In his speech, the governor praised Admont Abbey as an "important employer and major cultural site": "The monks have shaped the history of Styria for centuries."

Special exhibition opened to mark the anniversary
After the service, the head of the monastery, together with curator Christian Rapp and Prior Maximilian Schiefermüller, opened the doors to the special exhibition "Admont 1074 - A journey through the history of the monastery". Treasures from the abbey library and archive that have never been shown to the public before will be on display, "shedding light on difficult periods as well as the monastery's heyday", reports Hafner.

Curator Christian Rapp in the exhibition

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

"Because in the 950 years there were also episodes of decline and resignation. Nevertheless, our confreres have always picked themselves up again, trusting in God's help and support, and started again," says the abbot.

Further innovations in the jubilee year: the Museum of Art History was extended and moved to the ground floor, and a guidance system was installed.