Stams Abbey: A Baroque Cistercian Monastery in Austria
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Austria
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Habsburg, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Monastery
On this page10 sections
History
Stams Abbey is a Cistercian monastery in Stams, Austria, founded on 5 March 1273 by Meinhard II of Gorizia-Tyrol and his wife, Elisabeth of Bavaria. The complex developed from a medieval Cistercian foundation into a major Baroque architectural ensemble in the Alpine region.
Foundation and dynastic purpose
The foundation commemorated Conradin, Elisabeth’s son and the last member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, who was executed in Naples in 1268. Stams was also intended to serve as the burial place of the rulers of Tyrol, replacing the parish church of Bolzano, which had earlier been considered for that purpose.
The first community arrived from Kaisheim in Swabia. It comprised twelve monks and five lay brothers under Abbot Heinrich of Honstätten. Through Kaisheim, Stams belonged to the Cistercian institutional lineage of Morimond. Its endowment included the incorporation of the parishes of Silz, St. Peter, Untermais, and the Martinskirche at Mals, together with lower jurisdiction over the village of Stams. These rights helped the abbey become an important regional economic center, while its wealth also extended into Swabia.
Medieval and early modern importance
Stams hosted the imperial regalia from 1347 to 1350 and received pilgrims traveling toward Santiago de Compostela. In 1494, the abbey was the setting for a diplomatic meeting between Emperor Maximilian I and the Ottoman sultan Bayezid. Tyrolean rulers continued to use it as a burial place, including Archduke Sigismund of Austria, who died in 1496.
The abbey declined during the sixteenth century. The Reformation, damage during the German Peasants’ War in 1525, the pillage carried out by troops commanded by Elector Maurice of Saxony in 1552, and a major fire in 1593 all damaged the institution and its buildings. At some points, the community had fallen to only three monks. The 1552 attack destroyed the princely crypt and the tomb of Maurice’s brother, Severinus of Saxony.
Rebuilding and cultural life
The conventual buildings were rebuilt in the early seventeenth century. A further phase of reconstruction took place under Abbot Edmund Zoz, who served from 1690 to 1699 and oversaw the construction of the characteristic onion-domed towers. Georg Anton Gumpp continued the extensive Baroque rebuilding in the early eighteenth century, shaping much of the appearance that survives today.
During the second half of the eighteenth century, Stams became a center of musical activity. Musicians associated with the abbey included Stefan Paluselli and the Viennese Johann Michael Malzat. The chronicler Cassian Primisser was also active there, and a small seminary was established in 1778.
Dissolution, restoration, and present role
The Bavarian government dissolved the abbey in 1807. It was re-established in 1816 after Tyrol returned to Austria, and the first five new Cistercians included the theologian Johann Baptist Lechleitner. Nazi authorities dissolved and confiscated Stams in 1938 and 1939, using it as a resettlement home for emigrants from South Tyrol. Cistercian monks returned in 1945 after the Second World War. They installed educational institutions in the buildings and transferred leased land to settlers.
An extensive renovation carried out between 1973 and 1985 received an Europa Nostra Foundation award in 2010. A further major renovation, lasting eighteen years, was completed in 2016. The abbey church received the status of a minor basilica from Pope John Paul II in 1983 and 1984. Stams remains protected as a monument and supports educational institutions, including the Meinhardinum secondary schools, the Stams school and boarding institution for ski athletes, the Diocese of Innsbruck’s Institute of Social Pedagogy, and a location of the Edith Stein Ecclesiastical University College of Teacher Education. Its activities also include a museum, abbey shop, distillery, and alpine pasture. Its daughter institution is the Cistercian Abbey of Meran-Untermais, founded in 1969.
Remains
The abbey complex stands separately above a broad plain in the municipality of Stams. Its surviving buildings are predominantly Baroque, with the church, palace, chapels, and decorated interior spaces forming an interconnected architectural ensemble.
Abbey church
Dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist, the abbey church was first consecrated in 1284 as a Romanesque basilica. Georg Anton Gumpp rebuilt it between 1729 and 1733 in the High Baroque style. The present church has a single nave, a transept, and tall lateral chapels. Johann Georg Wolcker of Augsburg painted the nave frescoes in 1734 with scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary, while Franz Xaver Feuchtmayr of the Wessobrunn school created the elaborate stucco.
The early Baroque high altar dates from around 1610 to 1613. Bartlme Steinle of Weilheim carved and gilded it as a Tree of Life bearing 84 sculptures of saints. The church also contains a pulpit by Andreas Kölle of Fendels, while Andreas Tamasch made the Crucifixion group and the representation of the Virgin and Child opposite the pulpit.
Two organs represent different phases of the church’s musical history. Andreas Jäger of Füssen built the Baroque choir organ in 1757 with twelve stops. The main organ was built by Rieger Orgelbau in 2015, incorporating the historic case made by Johann Evangelist Feyrstein, and has 43 stops.
Austrian Tomb and dynastic memorials
The so-called Austrian Tomb is set into the floor at the western end of the nave. Completed in the late seventeenth century, it commemorates important Tyrolean rulers and family members buried at Stams through life-size carved and gilded figures. Those represented include Meinhard II, Elisabeth of Bavaria, Frederick of Austria, Sigismund of Austria, and Bianca Maria Sforza. The installation is associated with Andreas Tamasch.
The people commemorated by the tomb are buried before the high altar, where two floor slabs mark the burials. A memorial plaque to Conradin was installed in the church vestibule in 2000, recalling the dynastic figure whose execution helped inspire the abbey’s foundation.
Chapel of the Holy Blood
The Chapel of the Holy Blood was converted from an older structure into its present form between 1715 and 1717. Its high altar was made by the court carpenter Sigmund Zeller, its statues by Andreas Kölle, and its wall paintings by Josef Schöpf.
A wrought-iron screen known as the Rose Grille closes the chapel. Made by a metalworker from Silz over six years and completed in 1716, it contains 80 individually designed roses.
Abbey palace
The abbey palace was rebuilt from 1692 under Abbot Edmund Zoz and completed by Georg Anton Gumpp in 1724. Its principal staircase has a wrought-iron balustrade made by B. Bachnetzer in 1727.
The western wing contains the Princes’ Apartments and the Bernhardisaal, or Hall of Saint Bernard, installed by Gumpp around 1720. The hall is arranged on two levels, with a carved and gilded wooden gallery opening through the center of the ceiling. Franz Michael Hueber and his pupil Anton Zoller created its frescoes in 1722, depicting episodes from the life of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.
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