Klosterneuburg Monastery — Attraction in Gemeinde Klosterneuburg

Hands down one of the best tours I’ve taken! If you are into history, churches, and architecture, take the ride out of the city and visit Klosterneuburg Monastery. I’m sharing just a few pictures and a few tidbits of the tour, but there’s so much to see and learn about — I urge you to go there in person to really experience it all! We started by visiting the Treasure Chamber and seeing all of the old artifacts belonging to St Leopold, someone I knew very little about until yesterday. We had the Vienna Pass, so this was an added inclusion which is why we took the trip to begin with, otherwise, we probably wouldn’t have even known about this gem. We paid a nominal fee to upgrade to the Grand Tour, so after quickly browsing the STUNNING treasures, our tour started with Sabine. She was by far one of the best and most knowledgeable tour guides I’ve met — make sure you ask for her if she’s available! She began the Grand Tour by taking us through the history of the Monastery, recanting the old stories of Leopold and Agnes, and telling us about the Canons of St Augustine. She showed us the renderings of the Monastery and explained how it was set to be one of Vienna’s most marvelous structures. We then walked outside and upstairs to the Imperial State Rooms. We walked through each room, learning about its significance and asking questions about the former Emperors/Empresses of Austria, even discussing the connections to France, Spain, the U.S., and the history of the church. We spoke about other beautiful sites outside of the city, like Schloss Hof, and Melk Abbey, and then we walked into the Marble Room (which was freezing in March by the way), but absolutely gorgeous. It was like a private experience with such a small group of us in there, much different than visiting Schönbrunn or Belvedere. Then, we talked about the largest private library in Austria, and headed back down the steps toward the church. From there, we stepped into the halls, saw the incredible baroque architecture, and the developments over the course of the 700-900 year period everything was created. We then went through a door and down into the original cloisters where we saw historical altars, tombs, and the resting place of St Leopold and his wife Agnes. The tour in total took about 90 minutes, but Sabine made it fly by. She truly loves her job and has a passion for teaching others about the history, architecture, and culture of Austria. 10 out of 10 recommend this tour! The ONLY downside is that the Monastery closed at 4pm and because we got there with just enough time to squeeze onto the last tour of the day, our tour concluded at 4:30, so we didn’t have much time to shop or take a tour of the wine cellars (yes, the Monastery has their own wine cellars!) — we did have a chance to grab a bottle or two before they closed though. If you’re looking for something a bit off the beaten path, or you have a little extra time to get out of the city, try adding this on your itinerary, and be sure to say...

Klosterneuburg is a short train ride outside of Vienna and worth a few hours if you're interested in history. The treasury is small but very nice (the Ducal Crown, some of the liturgical vestments are simply spectacular) but most of what is worth seeing can only be seen on one of the tours. Emperor Charles VI's state rooms are gorgeous, if not quite as stunning as his daughter's, Empress Maria Theresa state rooms at the Schloss Schonbrunn. Also on the tour is the Verdun Alter, a spectacular medieval work of art. The church is lovely as well but I was only able to see it through a fence. This was extremely annoying as the church is the primary reason I went and the only reason the tour wasn't able to go into the church, as the guide told us, was because the service had run a few minutes over. There were two perfectly reasonable solutions. a) Reorder the tour that day and go somewhere else first and then come back to church. (The tour was quite modular and could easily have been rearranged.) b) Don't schedule the tour so that even a slight delay in the service prevents visitation. Instead we just didn't go into the church. Given that the church was completely empty for an hour before the tour (I arrived early and peaked in) and was completely empty after the tour, I find it baffling they schedule the tour so close to the only time when it could possibly not enter the church. The three star score is based largely on this poor organisation of the tours, otherwise this would be a four or...

Legend has it that Margrave Leopold III. The Klosterneuburg Abbey was founded on the spot where he found the veil of his wife Agnes carried away by a gust of wind at the wedding reception.

At the beginning of the 12th century, the Babenberger Leopold established his residence not far from the present collegiate church in Klosterneuburg. To this he laid the foundation stone on June 12, 1114. In 1133 Leopold brought the order of the Augustinian canons to Klosterneuburg. Since then, the canons (with the exception of a few years: 1941 to 1945, the pin was repealed by the Nazis) here and in their entrusted parishes according to the rule of St. Augustine.

In an eventful history spanning nine centuries, Klosterneuburg Abbey has become a religious, pastoral, scientific, cultural and economic center that can radiate far beyond the walls of monasteries all over the world. The nearly fifty canons that are part of the convent today, and the many employees in the parishes and in the business enterprises, want to carry this great heritage together...