- Geras Abbey
Geras Abbey ("Stift Geras") is a
Premonstratensian monastery in Geras inLower Austria . Since 1783 it has also owned the premises of the former Pernegg Abbey nearby.History
The abbey was founded in 1153 as a daughter house of
Seelau Abbey [Seelau is nowŽeliv in theCzech Republic ] by Ekbert and Ulrich ofPernegg and settled by canons from Seelau. Geras Abbey was able to survive the reforms of the Emperor Joseph II and the consequent monastery closures of 1783, and remains in operation to this day.The abbey church is a Romanesque
basilica which was reworked in the Baroque style in the 18th century by the architectJosef Munggenast and thefresco painterPaul Troger .In 1953 the church was given the title of Papal basilica.
Pernegg Abbey
In
Pernegg , about 10 kilometres from Geras, Ekbert and Ulrich of Pernegg, the founders of Geras Abbey, also founded Pernegg Abbey, a Premonstratensian nunnery which was also a daughter house of Seelau Abbey.Pernegg Abbey became a community of monks in 1584. It was dissolved in 1783, when the premises were acquired by Geras Abbey. Since 1995 they have been used as a retreat and seminar centre for the monastery at Geras.
Notes
Sources / External links
* [http://www.stiftgeras.at/ Geras Abbey website] de icon
* [http://www.mom.findbuch.net/php/main.php?ar_id=3263&action=open&kind=b&id=7&source=linker Monasterium.net: Geras Abbey]
* [http://www.fotoreport.at/galerie/stifte/geras/ Geras Abbey: photographs]
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