Viking River Cruise: Göttweig Abbey

Göttweig Abbey Church

Obviously, with our late-night activities, we had a late cruising start. During the night, we had more creaks and wiggles as we cruised through locks, but the weather improved.

Our next destination was the more-than-900-year-old Göttweig Abbey, which sits high on a hill overlooking the Wachau Valley on the Danube. Göttweig means "Way of God."

The Abbey from the bottom of the hill

The Abbey is located in Krems, a small town about 43 miles west of Vienna. Located at the confluence of the Krems and Danube Rivers at the eastern end of Wachau Valley, Krems was first mentioned in 995, but settlement was apparent even before then. 

Krems from the Abbey

The oldest grave found in Austria, a child's grave over 27,000 years old, was found there. During the 11th and 12th Centuries, Chremis, as it was then called, was almost as large as Vienna. From above, the town looks like a toy village or model. That's the town above and this is a model of the Abbey below ...

Abbey model

The countryside around Krems is absolutely beautiful. The Abbey's land comprises seven rolling hills, forest, small towns, vineyards and orchards.

View from the Abbey

There is even a quaint church and graveyard that can be seen from the front parking area ...

Parish graveyard

This is what you imagine when you think of the Danube. And, as an added treat, there was still a fair amount of fall foliage.

The Abbey symbol is a cross on top of hills

As I said, Göttweig Abbey is approaching its 1000th birthday. The high altar of the Abbey Church was dedicated in 1072 and the Monastery was dedicated in 1083. 

In 1094, Göttweig Abbey joined the Benedictine order and was established as a seat of learning and strict monastic observance. It included a monastic school and a library, plus a nunnery that existed until 1557.

During the 15th and 16th Centuries, the Abbey fell into decline and, in 1564, there were no  monks left there. A new Abbot, who held his office until 1604, restored the monastery, rebuilding it after it had been almost entirely destroyed by fire in 1580. 

Abbey entrance

After another fire in 1718, the monastery was rebuilt on a grander scale – so grand, if fact, the Abbot was almost deposed for his extravagance. The fresco decorating the imperial staircase, executed by Paul Troger in 1739, is considered a masterpiece of Baroque architecture in Austria. It represents the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI as Apollo.

Ceiling Fresco

The Abbey library has 130,000 books and manuscripts, a collection of religious engravings, coins, antiquities and musical and natural history manuscripts, all of which survived World War II.

Our guide

Our visit included a guided tour, plus some time to explore the extensive (and beautiful) grounds on our own. 

It is obvious that one of the main enterprises of Göttweig Abbey is tourism. And, it's obvious that Viking is their biggest customer. 

When we arrived, we went into a welcome center, where we were given apricot nectar or sparkling wine (I actually mixed them for a nice mimosa!). 

Then, we were shown a video about the Abbey that was produced by Viking. You can see it here.

We toured the grounds …

Small chapel

… where I spotted some Common Blackbirds …

Cool eye ring

We visited the Church …

Imposing

… which features a beautiful ceiling, an ornate altar and a grand pipe organ …

Interior views

Although the outside of the Abbey seems rather restrained (for the period), some of the interior is over the top ...

I love all the detail

The main church has a smaller chapel with some interesting, but less grand, details ...

Chapel

As we left the church, our guide pointed out a gorgeous panel made completely of inlaid wood. Apparently, it was a gift from a parishioner for the Abbey's birthday.

Inlaid wood panel depicting the Abbey grounds

We spent quite a bit of time learning about the Imperial Staircase …

Imperial Staircase

… which appears to have a very high ceiling pitch, but the rise is actually only 16 inches. The painting technique just fools the eye.

As I mentioned, the painting depicts Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI as Apollo, a conceit that was common at the time. That's him in the upper left corner ...

Ceiling detail 

… and in the hall, we saw the original “proposal” for the art – which featured Apollo, but not with Charles VI’s face!

Original painting to show proposed ceiling design

The Imperial Staircase is flanked by statues …

Gilded statues

We also visited some some private rooms in the Cloister decorated with gorgeous hand-painted nature-inspired wallpaper …

Seals and ducks decorate the wallpaper

… and one of those spectacular ceramic heaters (they are very clever because the door to the fuel box is outside the room so that servants could stoke the heater without disturbing the residents) …

Hand-painted linen wallpaper on the left; ceramic heater on the right

The Abbey is more than a monastery. 

The 13,000-acre Abbey contains vineyards from which Wachau Valley wines are produced and Wachau marille (a specific type of apricot) trees from which jams, jellies and nectars are produced.

Apricot trees at the Abbey entrance

Hiking trail

The monks maintain forest lands that are open to the public for recreation, biking, hiking and camping. 

The 112-mile-long Wachau World Heritage Trail also passes through the Abbey's lands.

There are 45 monks living at the Monastery. Unlike many orders that are primarily contemplative, Göttweig Abbey's monks are all active members of the order and the community. 

In addition to their religious duties, the monks perform real jobs. 

They manage the forest lands, serving as park rangers of sorts. They teach in local schools and work in local hospitals. They manage the orchards and vineyards and make wine, nectar and jelly.

Plus, they operate a spiritual retreat, a children’s program and facilities for refugee families. They even operate a 26-room hotel of sorts (the purpose seems to be spiritual -- 22 of the rooms are singles).

Terraces overlook the 35 parishes sprinkled around the seven hills and corresponding valleys that comprise the Abbey. 

View from the Abbey terrace

After the tour and enjoying the view, we sampled the delicious pastries produced in the resident restaurant. 

Dessert

I had an airy confection with a name I could not pronounce and cannot remember. Craig had apple strudel, Scott had an marille pretzel and Cheri had the winning selection – a delicious apricot dumpling.

We also bought some of the delicious nectar that we brought home. It really makes a tasty cocktail.

The view was so breathtaking that we spent quite a bit of time on the patio just looking (and taking photos) ...

Scott on the terrace (Stift means Abbey)

Plus, I had plenty of time to retrace my steps and get more pictures of the grounds ...

Beautiful doors

... and the church ...

Abbey Church

One disappointment was that up until November, the tour includes a pipe organ concert. It was October 31 and there was no concert. We had really wanted to hear a pipe organ – it meant that we would have to try somewhere else.

Göttweig Abbey pipe organ

While we were there, groundskeepers were setting up for the "Night of a Thousand Lights," an annual holiday event where the Abbey is decorated with white lights. I imagine it is quite beautiful. It seems like we were just a tad too early for Christmas decorations and events everywhere we went.

The day we toured Göttweig Abbey was Halloween. I wore orange and black (with purple finger bandages) to celebrate and would have thought we would have has some sort of Halloween activity on the boat. 

Me with Craig

But, the only reference I saw was a couple of jack o lanterns. 

Ship halloween decorations

I guess nothing is better than forcing us to create costumes from found items or cabin-to-cabin treat or treating.

After a fun half day at the Abbey, we re-boarded the ship to cruise through the Wachau Valley – undeniably the most scenic part of the trip.

Wachau cruising

Trip date: October 25-November 7, 2017