Today has been a day of elation, squashed stereotypes and minor debauchery. These are not typical emotions that you would equate or use to describe a visit to a 900-year-old winery and stift, but Klosterneuburg Monastery (too me!) is not a normal church! The tour itself was split into two parts beginning with the winery and its history followed by another tour (by an Augustinian Canon!) of the church and its world famous art collection. Anytime you mix wine with history and art you are bound to have a good time!
WINERY
According to the tour guide of the winery, Klosterneuburg Monastery helped to develop a rich tradition of viticulture and economic prosperity in the region. The winery is one of the oldest wine estates in Austria on 108 hectares, which is the equivalent to 108,000 acres. The winery has four different lands that it cultivates on, which includes Klosterneuburg, Vienna, Gumpoldskirchen and Tattendor. It was very interesting traveling underground into the baroque cellar because I found out that it was forged by the Romans in the 1st century B.C., which I found amazing. The ventilation system dates back to that era as well and is surprisingly simple in how it was planned out. The Danube River, which runs along the monastery, is separated from the wine cellar with meter-thick walls that keeps the interior quite cool. The cellar is also 36 meters below the earth, which helps control the temperature.
One of the areas that I found intriguing was the production facility of the wines, which was split in a large room between whites and reds. I think that I took a liking to this part of the tour because it reminded me of the brewery that I work at in Sacramento and I like to see the work that goes behind the final outcome. One major difference that took students aback was the use of black mold in the cellar area to gage if the temperature was correct. I know that in California black mold is seen as a dangerous and sometimes lethal problem is housing developments, so it was comical to see it being used in a positive way at Klosternueburg.
THE “SACRED TOUR”
As I said before, this day squashed stereotypes for me that I previously didn’t even know existed. Not being raised within a certain denomination I was a little uneasy about having a tour led by a monk, or Augustinian Canon, because I didn’t really know how to act around him. The fact that he was going to be our guide was described as a real honor, which of course it was, but canons in general were described prior to the trip as staying away from tourists and somewhat recluse. Father Clemens, on the other hand, was extremely funny and insightful on the tour of the church and its treasures. He is a New Yorker at heart, and I think he took our tour group because we were young English speaking students and he wanted to get a perspective on us. (One of the first things he said to us was that we were “from the wrong coast”.) I think he was pleased when he found out that most of the students on the trip were history majors because he could go into detail about the facts behind the abbey.
Saint Leopold, the patron saint of Austria, founded Stift Klosterneuburg in 1114. In 1106 Leopold III married the daughter is German Emperor Heinrich IV, named Agnes. Legend says that after the wedding a gust of wind blew away her bridal veil and Leopold said that wherever the veil was found he would build a monastery. Nine years later the veil was found clean and intact on an elder brush, and this is today the site of the Abbey Church of Klosterneuburg. Below is a gold engraving of the legend.
In 1133 Leopold III turned over the monastery that he had founded to the Augustinian Canons. According to Father Clemens the Canons today preach the word of St. Augustine, “the founder of an order and bishop of Hippo in North Africa.” Communal life in the church is said to be connected to the followers of God through work in the parish.
In a semi-related note, I thought it was very interesting that the complex was to be used as an Austrian Escorial, much like the Hapsburg Escorial in Madrid. Emperor Charles VI, the father of Maria Theresa, had extremely ambitious plans to make the Escorial in the Baroque taste that was so fashionable at the time. When he died, however, construction ended. It is strange to walk through the place where the gift shop is and see giant unfinished sculptures coming out of the wall and realizing the plans that the emperor had for the place. Until recently the gift shop room was actually used to store boxes for the wine production. Below is a picture of what the Escorial should have looked like if completes as well as an unfinished statue on the wall and ceiling.
There are many aspects of the tour that to me stood out as once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. I almost cried when I got to see the Verdun Alter made by Nicholas of Verdun, one of the most famous goldsmiths and enamellists during the Middle Ages. The Alter is enclosed within a large gate and is a triptych of 51 enamel panels that shows “the epochs of salvific history.” Father Clemens actually opened the gate and let us inside, so I was inches away from the famous work of art. I made a mental note inside the gate to call my renaissance art history instructor and ask if she was ever had the ability to do something that cool! I was also able to see the seven-armed candelabra up close, which I had only seen in my art history books.
Another amazing experience that Father Clemens allowed was for the students to go up next to the high alter and sit in the choir seats. The church was absolutely beautiful in the Baroque greens and gold, and it is easy to see how someone could get swept up in its grandeur. Every inch of that church (on the walls and ceilings) was telling a story and I have never been in or seen a church outside of Europe that was so beautiful.
THE AFTER PARTYAfter the tour Father Clemens joined as at a Heuriger, which is a wine-garden restaurant that features the wine of that particular year. I tried Blutwurst, which is a German sausage made out of pork rind, pork blood and spices. It sounds gross, but it’s actually delicious! Father Clemens made sure that the wine glasses were never empty, and we went through 26 bottles of Grüner Veltliner. That is where the debauchery went down, although I won’t go into details about that! ;)
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