"Klösterreich" - that is more than a label of tourism advertising. Because it describes what the k. u. k. The Monarchy of the 17th and 18th centuries is so significant: the newly won self-confidence after the victory over the Turks and repression of Protestantism, the close coexistence of crown and church, which finds its expression in the Baroque. Art, religion and the feeling for life enter into an inseparable connection that releases unsuspected creative powers. Our journey to the churches and monasteries of Lower Austria, which mirror the spirit of the epoch, as elsewhere in Europe, is considered to be this "Gesamtkunstwerk". But we also enjoy the wine-savvy landscape of the Wachau and the Kamptal, experience a piece of baroque lifestyle at the "Heuriger" and accompany us on the way with music by Austrian baroque composers. A special emphasis is the encounter with the monastic life and the insight into the culture of the various orders. Our stand quarter, the guest house of Stift Göttweig, one of the most important monasteries in Europe, offers the best conditions for this.

 

Day 1: Arrival

Flight to Vienna or Munich. Transfer to the Benedictine Abbey Göttweig: hotel accommodation for eight nights.  

 

Day 2: Premonstratensians and Benedictines

The first goal of this day is the Parish and Pilgrimage Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Dreieichen, a uniform late baroque building with a light interior, for which Paul Troger created one of his last works. We continue to the Premonstratensian chapel of Geras, which was given its present form in the late Baroque by Jakob Munggenast - the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary as a Baroque robe of a Romanesque pillar basilica, the convent buildings with spirited pavilion construction, festivals and magnificent marble hall. With the Benedictine Abbey of Altenburg Josef Munggenast has the main work of the Danube Baroque in the 2nd quarter of the 18th Jhs. created: the church as a large oval dome space (with frescoes by Paul Troger and others), the pen buildings with imperial rooms and especially the magnificent library, a perfect combination of architecture, painting and sculpture, of space and color. Special attention should also be paid to the gardens of the monastery, which invite you to linger and be amazed: the "Garden of Religions", the "Garden of Creation" and the "Garden of Silence".  

 

Day 3: Göttweig and Krems

The morning belongs to Stift Göttweig. Possibility for worship service. Round trip through the baroque monastery complex, planned by Lukas von Hildebrandt as a huge fortress of God and still in its realized form of impressive dimensions. Of course we can see the Collegiate Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, but also the grand Emperor's staircase with ceiling fresco by Paul Troger, the Imperial Wing and the Prince's Room. We spend the afternoon in the nearby wine village Krems, which is considered as the most beautiful town in Lower Austria with its beautifully preserved and lovingly restored old town.  

 

Day 4:  Cistercian monastery - imperial sanctuary

The Cistercian monastery Lilienfeld impresses by the harmonious interplay of High Middle Ages and early Baroque; This applies above all to the collegiate church, one of the largest churches in Austria, whose Romanesque-early Gothic room is dressed in a Baroque robe. A detour to Styria takes us to the place of pilgrimage Mariazell, once almost the "imperial sanctuary" of the Habsburg emperors. The importance of the pilgrimage is reflected not least in the magnificent church in the style of Italian Baroque, a work of Domenico Sciassia, with an abundant decoration. (about 230 km)

 

Day 5: Augustiner and provincial capital

Today's excursion leads first to the Herzogenburg Augustinian Monastery Herzogenburg, whose powerful Baroque grounds go back to plans by Jakob Prandtauer and was completed by Josef Munggenast. From here it is not far to Heiligenkreuz-Gutenbrunn, where you can admire the Church of the Assumption with an interior of magnificent splendor. Finally, we come to St. Pölten with an originally Romanesque, today baroque cathedral, until the end of the 18th century. Monastery church of an Augustinian choir manor pin. (about 70 km)

 

Day 6: Highlight of Austrian Baroque

On a drive through the Wachau with such picturesque places as Dürnstein, Weißenkirchen or Spitz we come to the Benedictine Abbey of Melk: The magnificent facility, undisputed highlight of Austrian Baroque architecture of European rank, is the main work of Jakob Prandtauer. After so much art, a hike on a section of the Jakobs-Pilgerweg Göttweig-Melk from Maria Langegg to the castle ruins Aggstein will take us in the afternoon, a great experience (6.5 km, approx. 1.5 hours). On the way back to Göttweig we make a stop in St. Michael on the Danube south side with its picturesque church ensemble. In a wine tavern the day ends sociably. (about 100 km)

 

Day 7: Baroque on the Danube and in the Waldviertel

The Cistercian Abbey of Zwettl in the Waldviertel impresses with the equally exciting and harmonious harmony of baroque splendor and monumentality of the façade (Jakob Munggenast) on the one hand, and the gothic interior of the abbey church dressed in festive Baroque on the other. In Zwettl we learn, if possible, in the herbal factory "Sonnentor" something about the extraction and care of products of nature. Romantic on the Danube lies the famous wine village Dürnstein with its picturesque main street and the former Augustinian Monastery, a rare unity of architecture and landscape. (about 130 km)

 

Day 8: From Romanesque to "Escorial"

The Cistercian Abbey Heiligenkreuz is the most important medieval monastery in Austria. In the collegiate church contrast and interplay of Romanesque nave and gothic hall choir impress, while the monastery courtyard is determined by the arcades of 1662 completed guest on the one hand, and on the other by the Baroque Holy Trinity Column and the Josef fountain. The monastery of Augustinian monasteries in Klosterneuburg, north of Vienna, is quite different: here, the medieval abbey buildings were built under Emperor Charles VI. expanded by a baroque new building to an - albeit never completed - Austrian Escorial. (about 220 km)

 

Day 9: Departure: 

Transfer to Airport. Flight back. 

 

Our services:

- Tranport in a modern coach 

- Double rooms in good middle class hotels 

- Half board

- Entrance fees

 

S-Price: from € 1.455,-- p. Person in Doubleroom

The minimum number of participants for this trip is 20 people.

 

Travel documents: identity card or passport