Description of the attraction
The Benedictine Monastery of Mondsee is an abbey in Upper Austria near the federal state of Salzburg. The history of the village of Mondsee dates back to 748, when a Benedictine monastery was founded on the shores of Lake Mondsee, the first monastery in Upper Austria.
The Mondseeland region, in which the monastery is located, was formerly part of Bavaria. In 748, Odilo, Duke of Bavaria, founded an abbey. In keeping with monastic tradition, the first monks came from the Monastery of Monte Cassino in Italy.
In 788, after the fall of Duke Tassilo III, Mondsee monastery became an imperial abbey. During this period, the first handwritten psalter was created here, and in 800 the Bible was translated into Old German at the abbey.
In 831, King Louis the Pious gave the monastery to the diocese of Regensburg. The abbey regained its independence in 1142 under Abbot Conrad II, who became abbot of Mondsee in 1127 and was extremely successful in protecting and restoring the rights and possessions of the monastery. Such aspirations and views of Konrad displeased a group of nobles. 3 years after the independence of the monastery, in 1145, Conrad II was killed. He is revered as a martyr. His successor, Blessed Walter (died May 17, 1158), is also remembered for his exemplary pursuit of virtue. He was buried in St. Peter's chapel in the abbey church.
In 1506, the lands of Mondseeland were transferred to Austria. In 1514, Abbot Wolfgang Haberl established a grammar school at the abbey. After a period of decline during the Reformation, the monastery entered a new period of prosperity. In 1773, the abbot was Oportunus II Dunkla, who was the last abbot of Mondsee: in 1791 the monastery was dissolved by Emperor Leopold II.
Today, the main attraction of the monastery remains - the Church of St. Michael, rebuilt from an ancient Romanesque church in the 15th century in the Gothic style, and several buildings in which the local history museum is located.
