Description of the attraction
The Abbey of Ossiach is a former Benedictine monastery in the federal state of Carinthia. Ossiach was founded by Otto III and is considered the oldest abbey in Carinthia.
According to legend, the Polish king Boleslav II the Bold was expelled in 1079 for the murder of St. Stanislaus, and fled to Hungary, and then wandered around Europe and found peace, finally when he arrived in Ossiach. There the king lived in a monastery like a dumb one, repented for eight years, humbly performed the most difficult work, until on his deathbed he told his confessor who he was and what he did for repentance. The inscription on his grave, located on the north side of the church building, reads: "Boleslav, King of Poland, murderer of St. Stanislaus, Bishop of Krakow."
The Romanesque church itself was first mentioned in 1215. Restored in the late Gothic style after a fire in 1484.
Under Abbot Werner (1307-1314), a centuries-old tradition of miraculous healings began in Ossiach. Legend has it that Werner received three crystal spheres from the Mother of God to heal the blind, deaf and dumb. Only the smallest of the three spheres has survived to this day, which is kept in the Diocesan Museum in Klagenfurt.
In 1484 the monastery and church were almost completely destroyed by fire. Abbot Leonard Zorn retired the same year, and his successor, Daniel Berger Barney (1484-1496), began rebuilding the abbey.
Ossiach Abbey was dissolved in 1783 under Emperor Joseph II, after which the buildings were used as barracks. The library was destroyed and most of the books were donated to the University of Graz. The church became a parish church.
In 1816 the premises were largely destroyed. Between 1872 and 1915, the few remaining buildings were reused as barracks and as stables. Since 1995, the premises have been transferred to the Carinthian administration. An annual music festival is held here today.
