| 1842 print KLOSTERNEUBURG MONASTERY, AUSTRIA, #4 |
Nice print titled Couvent de Closter-Neubourg, from steel engraving with fine detail and clear impression, approx. page size 21 x 13 cm, approx. image size is 14 x 10 cm. Print was published in a volume in series L'Univers Pittoresque. Histoire et Description de Tous les Peuples, de leurs Religions, Moeurs, Coutumes, Industries.
Klosterneuburg Monastery
Klosterneuburg Priory (German: Stift Klosterneuburg) is a Roman Catholic monastery of Augustinian Canons in the Lower Austrian town of Klosterneuburg on the Danube river, just north of the Vienna city limits at the Leopoldsberg.
It was founded in 1114 by the Austrian margrave Saint Leopold III, a Babenberger and the patron saint of Austria, and his second wife Agnes, a daughter of the Imperial Salian dynasty. According to legend, a gust out of the clear sky carried away Agnes' veil; her husband retrieved it years later and decided to build the monastery at the location. In fact Margrave Leopold had taken his residence at Neuburg ("Newcastle") and aimed to establish a separate Austrian diocese here, which met with strong opposition by the Bishops of Passau. Nevertheless the foundation is one of the oldest and richest of its kind in Austria and owned much of the land of the nowadays north-western suburbs of Vienna. Leopold's younger son, the chronicler Otto of Freising prepared for his ecclesiastical career at Klosterneuburg and became provost in 1126. The canons turned to the Augustinian rule in 1133.
The impressive building complex, the greater part of which was constructed between 1730 and 1834, stands on a hill rising directly from the banks of the Danube. Its foundations, including a castle tower and a Gothic chapel date back to the 12th century. Other older buildings still extant within the complex include the chapel of 1318 with Saint Leopold's tomb. From 1634 on the Habsburg rulers had the facilities rebuilt in a Baroque style, continued by the architects Jakob Prandtauer, Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach and Donato Felice d'Allio. The plans to embellish the monastery on the scale of an Austrian Escorial were later resumed by the Neoclassical architect Joseph Kornhäusel, though only small parts were actually carried out. From 1882 on the priory church was restored according to plans by Friedrich von Schmidt, whereby the Neo-Gothic twin steeples were attached.
The monastery premises also include a treasury with the Austrian archducal hat made on the behest of Archduke Maximilian III of Habsburg, a relic-chamber, and a library with 30,000 volumes and many manuscripts. It has also a centuries-long viticultural tradition and owns one of the largest wineries in Austria. The wine cellar contains an immense tunnel similar to the one at Heidelberg Castle.
Klosterneuburg
town, Bundesland Niederösterreich (federal state of Lower Austria), northeastern Austria. It lies on the west bank of the Danube River at the foot of the Leopoldsberg (1,394 feet [425 m]) and at the north edge of the Vienna Woods (Wienerwald), just northwest of Vienna. It was originally the site of a Roman fortress (Asturis). Later, a settlement called Neuburg developed around a castle on the Leopoldsberg and an Augustinian abbey, both of which were founded in about 1100 by the Babenberg margrave Leopold III of Austria. The abbey section was designated Klosterneuburg after 1218, when it was separated from the market district (Korneuburg) by flooding. It was chartered in 1298. The town was part of Vienna from 1938 until it was returned to Niederösterreich in 1954. The abbey (Chorherrenstift), one of the oldest and richest in Austria, has an important museum and a valuable library. The abbey church (1114–36) contains a famous wrought-gold and enamel altar (1181) by Nikolaus von Verdun. The town is the site of one of the few academic institutions in the world specializing in wine making, the Federal College of Viticulture and Pomology (1860). A popular river resort, Klosterneuburg also produces various manufactures, especially wood products and chemicals. Pop. (1981) 22,975.