The Benedictine Stift Göttweig monastery is situated on the eastern edge of the well-known Danube valley area, the Wachau, and is perched 449 meters above sea level on the southern banks of the Danube, just opposite of the town of Krems. Because of its unique setting on the Göttweiger Berg mountain, it is also called the „Austrian Montecassino“.
Stift Göttweig was founded in 1083 by Saint.Altmann, the bishop of Passau, and was given to the Benedictines in 1094. Since that time, forestry and wine-growing have been the basis of the local economy, with wine-growing under continuous development.
The baroque buildings were constructed according to the plans of architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt following a great fire that destroyed the old cloister in 1718. The particularly special sights here are the museum in the imperial wing; the imperial staircase under an outstanding ceiling fresco painted by Paul Troger in 1739; the imperial and princes’ rooms, and the monastery church with crypt and cloister.
