St. Peter's Archabbey, Salzburg

St. Peter's Archabbey, Salzburg, otherwise St. Peter's Abbey (Stift Sankt Peter) is a Benedictine monastery in Salzburg in Austria.

History

St. Peter's Abbey in Salzburg was founded by Saint Rupert in 696 for the mission to the South Alps and is thus considered one of the oldest monasteries in the German-speaking world, if not in fact the oldest. Until 987 the office of bishop was joined to that of abbot: the two were always held together by one man.

In the Middle Ages St. Peter's was known for its exceptional writing school. In the 15th century the abbey adopted the Melk Reforms. In 1623 Archbishop Paris Graf von Lodron founded the Benedictine University of Salzburg, which until its dissolution in 1819 was closely connected to the abbey.

In 1926 the endeavours of Abbot Petrus Klotz for the establishment of a Catholic university led to the foundation of the Benedictine college ("Kolleg St. Benedikt"), on which later the re-foundation of the University of Salzburg was based.

In 1927 St. Peter's Abbey was raised to the status of an Archabbey. During the National Socialist period the monks were expelled, but the monastery was not dissolved. The monks returned after the war. Since 1997 Archabbot Edmund Wagenhofer has been head of St. Peter's.

From 1641 the abbey was a member of the Salzburg Congregation, merged in 1930 into the present Austrian Congregation (of which it is the principal house) of the Benedictine Confederation.

Abbey church

The Romanesque building still in use today was dedicated in 1147. One of the orgues had been built on the rood screen in 1444 by Heinrich Traxdorf of Mainz. The interior, already re-modelled several times, was refurbished in the Rococo style between 1760 and 1782 under Abbot Beda Seeauer by Franz Xaver König, Lorenz Härmbler, Johann Högler, Benedikt Zöpf and others.

In the cemetery are buried Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's sister, "Nannerl", and Joseph Haydn's brother, "Johann Michael Haydn".

Library, archives and other collections

Library

St. Peter's houses the oldest library in Austria. Among the 800 manuscripts the most precious is the "Verbrüderungsbuch", which was deposited in 784 by Bishop Virgil. Through continual acquisition the library has grown to 100,000 volumes, focussing particularly on Benedictine monasticism, medieval church history, history of art and items relating to the local history of Salzburg, or "Salisburgensia". Special collections include incunabulae and early editions, graphics including the devotional images collection of Father Gregor Reitlechner and the map collection.

In 1768 Abbot Beda Seeauer had the medieval "Zellenbibliothek" converted to the Rococo style. In 1999 it was restored and is now only accessible by special permission.

Archives

The archive is for the purposes of abbey administration and the researching of its history. Itcontains documents from the 8th to the 20th centuries, in the following series:
# Deeds: c. 4,300 deeds up to 1700;
# Manuscripts Series A: chronicles, journals, chapter minutes, visitations, endowments, necrologies and rolls, inventories, accounts and so on;
# Manuscripts Series B: official records of estate ownership (cartularies, registers, feodaries, court records);
# Files: records and correspondence of the abbots, the monks, the chancery and other administrative offices of the abbey; files relating to estate ownership;
# Other: photographs, maps and plans.

Music archive

As a result of contact with notable musicians of Salzburg, St. Peter's possesses a significant collection, much of it in holograph, with works by Johann Ernst Eberlin, Anton Cajetan Adlgasser, Leopold and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Sigismund von Neukomm, Robert Führer and Karl Santner.

Other collections

The abbey also owns collections of paintings, church treasures, artworks, minerals, furniture, musical instruments, a coin cabinet and a cabinet of natural curiosities (not accessible).

Institutes in St. Peter's

Institute for Benedictine Studies

In order to give young German-speaking Benedictine monks and nuns the opportunity to advance their education on monastic subjects, the Salzburg Abbots' Conference of 2000 set up the Institute for Benedictine Studies to serve the study of and research into the Rule of St. Benedict. The director is Dr. Michaela Puzicha OSB.

Austrian Liturgical Institute

Through the endeavours of Father Adalbero Raffelsberger, St. Peter's was one of the earliest homes of liturgical revival in Austria. In 2001 the Liturgical Institute of the Conference of Austrian Bishops was attached to it.

External links

*de icon [http://www.stift-stpeter.at/ St Peter's Archabbey website]