Göttweig Abbey

Göttweig Abbey (German: Stift Göttweig) is a Benedictine monastery near Krems in Lower Austria. It was founded in 1083 by Altmann, Bishop of Passau. In the middle ages the abbey was a seat of learning with a library and a monastic school. The abbey went through a period of decline during the 15th and 16th centuries and in 1580 it was mostly destroyed by a fire. Under a new abbot brought in from Melk Abbey the monastery was rebuilt and restored. After another fire in 1718 the abbey had to be rebuilt again. The new building includes the largest Baroque staircase in Austria with a fresco that is considered a. History Abbey Church and Cloister Göttweig Abbey library Göttweig Abbey was founded as a monastery of canons regular by Blessed Altmann (c. 1015–1091), Bishop of Passau . The high altar of a chapel was dedicated in 1072, but the monastery itself was not until 1083: the foundation charter, dated 9 September 1083, is still preserved in the abbey archives. By 1094, the discipline of the community had become so lax that Bishop Ulrich of Passau, with the permission of Pope Urban II , introduced the Rule of St. Benedict . Prior Hartmann of St. Blaise's.