Göttweig Abbey

The high altar of a chapel was dedicated in 1072, but the monastery itself was not until 1083:[1] 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.

He founded a monastic school, organized a library, and at the foot of the hill built a nunnery where it is believed that Ava, the earliest German language woman poet known by name (d. 1127), lived as an anchorite.

At this crisis, an imperial deputation arrived at Göttweig and elected Michael Herrlich, a monk of Melk Abbey, as abbot.

[2] Abbots distinguished during the Reformation were George Falb (1612–1631) and David Corner (1631–1648), who successfully opposed the spread of Protestantism in the district.

In 1718 the monastery burned down and was rebuilt on a grander scale during the abbacy of Gottfried Bessel (1714–1749) to designs by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt[1] inspired by the Escorial.

The obverse side shows the abbey with its fortress-like towers on top of the hill surrounded by trees and vineyards.