KREMSMÜNSTER, ABBEY OF

Benedictine abbey on the Krems River in the Diocese of Linz, north central Austria; dedicated to St. Agapitus. Established (777) by Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria with monks from Mondsee (founded before 748) and under the Carolingians from 788, it evangelized and colonized among the Slavs. Magyar invasions ended an era of brilliance, and the abbey came under the bishops of Passau c. 917. gorze reforms were introduced under Abbots Sigmar (1013–40) and Dietrich (1066–85); the hirsau reform, under Ulrich III (1173–82). A strong Cistercian influence appeared under Friedrich von Aich (1275–1325), and Kremsmünster, with its scriptorium and famous historian Bernard (d. 1326), reached its peak. The 15th-century melk reform brought humanist influences. In 1549 the abbey school became a Gymnasium. Monastic and intellectual life was strengthened under Erhard Voit (1571–88), Johann III (1588–1600), Alexander a Lacu (1601–13), and Anton Wolfradt (1613–39). Baroque buildings were begun under Erenbert Schrevogel (1669–1703), and the observatory was constructed (1748–58). The learned baroque poet-dramatist Simon Rettenpacher (d. 1706) illustrates Kremsmünster's activities in music and liturgical drama in the 17th and 18th centuries. A few monks remained during the Nazi occupation of the abbey (1941–45). The library of 100,000 volumes has 400 MSS; the science and art collections are noteworthy. The treasure includes the 8th-century Tassilo chalice and candlesticks and the Codex millenarius.

Bibliography: Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Necrologia (Berlin 1826–) 4:197–238. Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores 9:544–554; 25:610–678. t. hagn, Urkundenbuch für die Geschichte des Benedictiner Stiftes Kremsmünster, seiner Pfarreien und Besitzungen vom Jahre 777 bis 1400 (Vienna 1852); Wirken der Benedictiner-Abtei Kremsmünster (Linz 1848). Festschrift zum 400jährigen Bestande des öffentlichen Obergymnasiums der Benedictiner zu Kremsmünster, 1549–1949 (Wels 1949). a. kellner, Musikgeschichte des Stiftes Kremsmünster (Kassel 1956). l. h. cottineau, Répertoire topobibliographique des abbayes et prieurés, 2 v. (Mâcon 1935–39) 1:1529–30. o. l. kapsner, A Benedictine Bibliography: An Author-Subject Union List, 2 v. (2d ed. Collegeville, Minn. 1962) 2:222. w. neumÜller, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 6:602.

[d. andreini]