Let's Talk Books! - The Admont Abbey Library

Libraries are some of the coolest places for book lovers. All those books just sitting there, waiting to be read, and it won’t hurt your wallet in the process or take up bookcase upon bookcase of space (though we bookworms think that buying a new book is one of the best feelings). While there is nothing quite like having your own copy of a book you love, libraries have been a great way for people to get ahold of books for centuries. Over the many years humans have been building buildings and filling them with books, some pretty spectacular libraries have been constructed. One of these magnificent libraries is called the Admont Abbey Library.

Library Information

Location: Admont, Austria

Commissioned By: Abbot Matthäus Offner (Abbott from 1751 to 1779) (reference 3)

Year Built: Plans Drawn for Hall – 1765, Construction Complete – Probably 1773 (reference 1)

Designed By: Josef Hueber (reference 1)

Dimensions: 230 feet long, 46 feet wide, 42.6 feet high (reference 2)

Frescos By: Bartolomeo Altomonte (reference 10)

Sculptors By: Josef Stammel (reference 9)

Number of Books: 70,000 volumes in the hall, 200,000 volumes in the entire Abbey (reference 3)

Brief History

The Admont Abbey has been around for centuries, and its magnificent hall, constructed later than the rest of the building, is its most well-known element. As stated on their website, the Admont Abbey Library is often referred to as the eighth wonder of the world, and it is easy to see why. With painted ceilings, a white and gold interior, and bright natural light spilling in through the forty-eight windows (reference 1), it is truly amazing.

The Abbey as a whole began construction in 1074 (reference 4). However, the magnificent and famous library hall was not started until 1765 (reference 3). That hall was originally designed by Josef Hueber, who also supervised its construction (reference 1). The magnificent ceiling frescoes were painted by Bartolomeo Altomonte (reference 10). The frescoes in Admont Abbey depict the artist’s rendition of religion and the arts and sciences, including a “personification of Devine Wisdom” (reference 9). The sculptures, on the other hand, were done by Josef Stammel, who was inspired by the spirit of the Enlightenment Period (reference 1). The sculptures were done in lime wood and bronzed to give them a more solid texture (reference 9). Four of these sculptures are known as “the four last things,” depicting death, resurrection, heaven, and hell (reference 9).

The Abbey has been around for centuries; the library even survived a fire in 1865 that destroyed the rest of the Abbey, leaving the library mostly undamaged, only suffering water damage (reference 8). The unusual style difference between the Abbey and the Library Hall came about due to that fire (reference 8). While fixing the damaged areas, the new library hall as we know it today was constructed. This allowed for an interesting architectural change, as the rest of the Abbey displays much older designs than the library hall, which, after the fire, was repaired by Wilhelm Bücher in a “new-Gothic” style (reference 5). Today, the library still stands tall, housing some of what many people call the most important books in the world.

Admont Abby Library Today

Today, the Abbey is still in use, and the library hall is both used by the monks and open to the public. The book collections include some incredibly valuable books, specifically over 500 Incunabula books that were printed before 1500 (reference 8). The Abbey contains not only a wide variety of books but also museums, many of which display art from an incredible range of historical time periods and styles (reference 7).

You can go visit this incredible library. It is open for most of the year, though their website says it is closed this December 2023 and January 2024 (reference 6). The price of admission is 16.50 euros, which is about 18.12 in US currency. If you happen to be going on a trip to Austria any time soon, this incredible library might be a great addition to your destination list.

The incredible hall is stunning! Check out some of the photos I was able to find!

Photo from Unsplash, by Carrie Borden

Photo from Unsplash by Patrick Langwallner

Photo from Unsplash by Carrie Borden

Have you ever been to this eighth wonder of the world? If you enjoyed this post, please like and leave a comment.

References:

Reference 1: https://stiftadmont.at/en/architektur/

Reference 2: https://www.thetravel.com/admont-abbey-library-austria-visiting/

Reference 3: https://stiftadmont.at/en/ueber-die-stiftsbibliothek/

Reference 4: https://lostinbookland.com/admont-abbey-the-fairy-tale-library/

Reference 5: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/austria/articles/a-brief-history-of-austrias-admont-abbey

Reference 6: https://stiftadmont.at/en/eintrittspreise-oeffnungszeiten/

Reference 7: https://stiftadmont.at/en/museen/

Reference 8: https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/libraries-and-special-collections-visiting-libraries-in-austria

Reference 9: https://stiftadmont.at/en/skulpturen-und-reliefs/

Reference 10: https://stiftadmont.at/en/fresken/

Top Photo Credit: Image at top from Unsplash by Zdeněk Macháček

Children’s Book of the Month - Nate the Great and the Fishy Prize

Fall is almost here! With fall only a few weeks away, a good mystery is always fun! So, for September’s children’s book of the month, I decided to review Nate the Great and the Fishy Prize. Written by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, Nate the Great is a series of thirty-one children’s mysteries about a young boy, Nate the Great, as he solves mysteries for his friends and neighbors. Joined by his trusty sidekick Sludge the Mut, Nate the Great searches for clues and pieces together puzzles to help his friends in their times of need. From finding a missing picture to lost tomatoes, Nate the Great is always on the case right after a good stack of pancakes.

These books were a highlight of my childhood! My sister and I still send each other pictures of perfectly piled pancakes with maple syrup dripping down the sides and a slice of butter on top, a reference to Nate the Great’s favorite food. I could not find my copy of Nate the Great (the first book), but these books are designed to be able to read in any order, so you can jump into the series at any point. However, as soon as I get ahold of the first book in the series, I will make sure to do a review of that book as well. But, as mentioned previously, for today, I will be diving into the eighth book in the series, Nate the Great and the Fishy Prize.

Book Information

Book Title: Nate the Great and the Fishy Prize

Author: Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

Illustrator: Marc Simont

Theme: Solving mysteries and helping friends

Plot: Nate the Great must find the missing prize for the smartest pet contest.

Page Count: Story Page Count – 48, Bonus and Education Material Page Count - 27

My Review

Nate the Great and Fishy Prize is an adorable story and a great avenue for introducing children to mysteries. Not only does this book, and others in the series, have bonus and educational material that help children learn deductive reasoning and other skills, this story is just plain fun! Sharmat finds just the right way of writing what children might be thinking and writing in short sentences to keep young minds from wondering. She captures various personalities in each character, building a fun and diverse cast of characters.

The story of Nate the Great’s search for the smartest pet contest prize is made even more fun by the illustrations that display each character’s personality perfectly, along with their various pets, such as Rosamond’s cats and Annie’s massive dog, Fang. My favorite part of this particular story is how the book opens with Nate the Great at the supermarket buying his dog shampoo. I just love this detail, as Nate the Great does a wonderful job being responsible for his pet dog, Sludge, rather than leaving his care to his mother. This subtle display of responsibility is a great message for young children. On top of this, I love that Nate the Great always leaves a note for his mom, letting her know where he is going, signing it “Love, Nate the Great.”

While my favorite book in this series is Nate the Great and the Missing Key, I loved this book! From its well-constructed story, complete with details for children to search out during the story and after, to the illustrations and bonus materials, I would definitely rate this book five stars! But let’s see what others thought of this little mystery.

Family Reviews

Alyssa and Chandler

Alyssa gave Nate the Great and the Fishy Prize a five-star rating, saying, “Nate the Great is a great character who uses good thinking skills! This book had awesome projects, animal facts, etc after the story! So cool!”

Alyssa’s daughter Chandler rated this book with five hearts, saying her favorite part was, “The whole thing! All the things they did! I liked the pancakes!” and “I liked the parrot! And I liked the dog Sludge! I liked Esmeralda’s hair!”

Kate and Josiah

Kate gave Nate the Great and the Fishy Prize a five-star rating, saying, “I appreciated it as a way to introduce kids to the mystery genre. It was very entertaining for me, too!”

Kate's son Josiah gave this book a one-heart rating, responding to the question of what his favorite part was, saying, “I don’t know. It was scary.”

Disclaimer: Please be aware that I am an Amazon affiliate and I earn from qualifying purchases through links.

Let’s Talk Books! – Why is the Death Catalyst So Interesting?

A book has many parts, in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody, these “parts” are called the beats. One of these “beats” is the catalyst. A catalyst is an event that drives the main character to be involved with the rest of the book. Jessica Brody says in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel that, “The Catalyst will crash land in your hero’s life and create so much destruction, your hero will have no choice but to do something different. Try something new. Go somewhere else” (page 38). This destructive event usually happens fairly early in the story and frequently occurs in a single moment. For example, someone gets a promotion, has a near-death experience, or gets fired. Every story needs a catalyst. There are many great catalysts out there and many great books that utilize them well, but today I want to look at one type of catalyst, the death catalyst.

The Death Catalyst

There are many kinds of “death” catalysts. There is a death in the family due to natural causes, there is murder, the death of an animal, and sometimes even the death that eventually turns out not to be a death, and more. Some may know the famous Agatha Christy book, Death on the Nile, which clearly states the catalyst in the title. As a matter of fact, most murder mysteries use the death catalyst (I say “most” only because I don’t want to assume that no one has ever succeeded at writing a murder mystery where something other than a death was the catalyst for the main character, but it seems unlikely). This catalyst is also commonly used in spy novels, fantasy, and more. In short, this catalyst can be a highly effective way to move a story forward.

Why is the Death Catalyst so Interesting?

So, what about the death catalyst is so fascinating? While I can’t speak for everyone, I would say the death catalyst is such a great one because of its high stakes. A death is a big event, even if it takes place in a small moment. Death weighs heavy on people’s minds, both for the characters in the books and the readers, and death is something that all of us will face one day. This means the presentation of a death will get the reader more involved with the story. Will more people die? Will they ever find out who did it? Is the killer still out there? Will the loss destroy the main character, or will they rise above and become someone stronger? The questions just keep coming. The death catalyst immediately sets the stakes high. Though the very similar, yet less permanent, catalyst of a near-death experience might raise the stakes differently, the death catalyst presents the main characters with a certain kind of emotional turmoil or mystery to solve. This turmoil or mystery quickly triggers emotions and gets the reader invested in the story, ready to dive into the rest of the main character’s life to find out what happens next.

A Classic Catalyst

The death catalyst is a classic. As mentioned before, it can be found in many genres. The most common one being murder mysteries. Someone stumbles upon a body, and they are thrust into finding out who killed the victim and why. This type of catalyst has been used in some of the most popular classics, such as the Agatha Christie books, Sherlock Holmes, and more. While this catalyst can be overused, when it is used correctly I think it is one of the best catalysts out there. I love a good “who done it” arc in any genre.

Have you found a good book outside the murder mystery category that uses the death catalyst?

Next week I will be taking a break from posting. But not to worry, I will be back in September! In the meantime, I would love to hear what content you like most on this blog. Please leave a comment and let me know. Thank you for your support!

Reference: Save the Cat! Write a Novel by Jessica Brody page 38.

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon associate and I earn from qualifying purchases.