Being in a Catholic country where many of the Habsburg emperors were patrons of both the church and the monasteries, our professor scheduled a private tour for us at Klosterneuburg, a Roman Catholic monastery of Augustinian canons. Canons, unlike monks, eventually rise to become priests at local churches, in this case churches around Vienna. I arrived at the monastery with little preconceived notions (or so I thought) and was extremely intrigued to go "behind the scenes" of both a monastery and the workings of a Catholic church. Dom (a title translated into 'Father' or 'Lord') Elias met us outside of the monastery to walk us through the gates - I swear he was George Clooney's twin. We were let inside of the gardens, and the atmosphere immediately changed. Although we were already outside of Vienna in a quite town, the air became a bit more silent and still. We walked through the gardens, each flower labeled and large grassy areas for the canons to reflect and relax. These gardens are an obvious source of both beauty and pride to the monastery.
Following along the trail and up the hill, Leopoldsberg comes into view on the neighboring hillside, where Leopold III (Margrave of Austria) was visiting with his bride Agnes when her beloved veil was swept away. It wasn't until on a later hunting outing that Leopold recovered the missing veil, and on that spot is where he founded Stift Klosterneuburg. Leopold later became a saint in 1485. Before Leopold however, it was once the cite of the Romans with the Danube as the border between civilization and barbarism. As it is said, where there is the grape and the olive there is the civilized life. Including both the Romans and the Babenbergs (Leopold III), this site has at all times been inhabited.
We were led into the small gift shop (they make their own wine and sell it) located in a domed room with baroque sculptures protruding from the wall. This unfinished baroque room is both unrestored and is the oldest in Vienna, it construction having stopped in 1740 and then filled with wine barrels. Today, art students and restoration students travel to this monastery to study the room. Instead of studying the restoration of baroque art however, we were offered their own sparkling white wine and were introduced to 6 of the canons (all 6 that we met were American and spoke English). I met Dom Kilian (named after the Irish St. Kilian) whom was originally from Aptos and had friends who had gone to my own high school - what a coincident! Kilian is in his second year at the monastery (the first year is a trial year before one's vows are taken), and was preparing for his next set of vows taken at the end of August.
After the introductions, we were split into 4 groups, two going into the church and two into the museum. Here, Dom Elias and Dom Kilian told us of the monastery's history, of its saint (Leopold had actually established the modern Austrian border in the Holy Roman Empire), and of St. Augustine of Hippo, the founder of their order. St. Augustine wrote the rule which the canons follow, and was a Roman philosopher and rhetorician who converted to Christianity. He advanced the studies of both Christianity and philosophy and was a bishop and a priest. Today there are 3 forms of the rule, but each have the distinction between 'want' and 'need,' and each mandate a common prayer and a common meal.
The part of the stift in which the museum was located was commissioned by Charles VI but later halted by Maria Theresia to relocate funds elsewhere within the kingdom. In the monastery's inhabited history of 900 years, the Nazi period was the only time in which the canons were not residing within the cloisters. Their library is the largest private library in Vienna (+250,000 cataloged books) and owns the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th oldest german Bibles (the first was sold after WWII to finance repairs).
The monastery also contains the Verdun altar made by Nicholas of Verdun in 1181 during his stay at the monastery. In 1330 there was a fire within the church, causing the altar to be transposed into its current position seen now. The altar contains images of the Old Testament, of the life of Christ, and of both New and Old Testaments stories, creating a fluid three-part structure of a type and an anti-type (the foreshadowing of a deeper reality to be fulfilled). Images combine Greek, Byzantine, and Roman styles. On top of the altar are the relics of St. Leopold, encased within an embossed gold box.
After being taken through the museum and into the room containing the verdun altar, we were allowed into the main church and up near the high altar, into the sacristy, and then into vespers (evening prayers) in which we were allowed to sit in on and participate in. Thank goodness for the perks of being a student!!
After vespers, our group and the canons went to the nearest heuriger, a family run wine tavern which is open for 6 months out of the year and which serves the current year's wine. At our table, Kilian was answering our questions (we had many) and it was definitely interesting to get a viewpoint from the point of an American living as a Viennese for the rest of his life in a monastery. Kilian was describing to us the notion of the Viennese as being a lost people, a people without a distinct culture or definition. His argument was persuading as well:
Austrians have always been under the rule of either the Babenbergs or the Habsburgs, citizens under an absolutist monarchy. Thus, individualism and culture has always been predetermined and carved out to fit the likes and preferences of the current ruling emperor. World War I began and further erased the Austrians' sense of culture. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by the Black Hand, prompting Germany to invade Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. Austria was subsequently drawn into the war with considerable resentment, feeling as if the war was never their choice (especially with Franz Josef's considerable dislike for the late Franz Ferdinand) but a war into which they had been coerced. At the war's end, Austria emerged broken and wary of trusting other nations, torn apart and on edge from a war they fought for Germany and in which they gained little. When Hitler rose to power, there was no hindsight, and like many successful acts of politics, his was a performance. Thus, Austrians were swept up in the fervor and supported Hitler. Then Hitler annexed Austria into Germany, further undermining any aspect of culture that had been formed by Austrian citizens. When the war ended, Russia continued to occupy Austria for 10 years, inhibiting any cultural growth. At the end of the occupation, Austrians were left with no structural government, no economic support, and a ravaged sense of self. Also, they were left knowing that both the concern given to them stemmed from pity and that most of the world viewed them as active participants in Hitler's agenda rather than victims of his cruelty. Hence, even today there is a sense of loss when it comes to Viennese culture - even the architecture reflects the culture of the ruler rather than that of the citizens and is in itself a mix of different styles - with citizens desperately trying to piece together a culture that was never truly theirs.
After this overview of Viennese culture, Kilian explained that the Viennese are traditionalists (they hate change) yet they avoid conservatism like the plague. He was describing to us the traditional behaviors expected of every Austrian citizen, even to this day - lists of protocols and rules dictating manners and respect. Yet for as rigid as they are in their traditions, they are highly anti-conservative. Most conservatives are viewed as religiously affiliated, and are visibly distinct (the high collar marking conservatism). There is a movement away from the right (so much of the loss of self has been ingrained in religious culture and history), in an effort to ignore rather than confront the religious affiliations and conflicts of Austria's past. Yet, Kilian said that there is also a movement away from the traditional protocols with people choosing out of the manners guide and being looked down upon, unable to reenter traditionalism at a later time. So in the sense that conservatism is ignored and shoved under the rug, the liberalism of many of the youth which embody the repulsion of both conservatism and tradition is frowned upon. And yet the traditionalism of Austria is somehow caught in the midst.
It seems that the Austrians' attempt at maintaing their rigid traditionalism is a desperate attempt at cultivating a long lost culture they were never able to nurture, one disconnected with religion yet not outright rejecting the social protocols.
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