Sep 8, 20233 min read

Let's Talk Books! - The Admont Abbey Library

Photo of the ceiling of the Admont Abbey Library Frescos.

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)

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!