Nonnberg Abbey

Salzburg, Austria

Nonnberg Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Salzburg founded ca. 714 by Saint Rupert of Salzburg. It is the oldest women's religious house in the German-speaking world. Its first abbess was Saint Erentrudis of Salzburg, who was either a niece or a sister of Saint Rupert.

The abbey was independent of the founding house from 987 and was re-built in about 1000. This building was largely destroyed in a fire of 1423. Reconstruction took place between 1464 and 1509.

The nunnery′s church Maria Himmelfahrt is Salzburg′s oldest church dedicated to the holy Virgin Mary and is one of the most significant churches of the city. It was built in late-gothic style with three naves from 1464 to 1506. In 1624 the church was enlarged by the addition of three side chapels. A refurbishment in the Baroque style took place in the 1880s. The church contains a Romanesque crypt that visitors should note, with the tomb of St. Erentrudis. The entrances to the crypt are in the side-naves.

Through Maria Augusta Kutschera, later Maria Augusta von Trapp, who was a postulant in the abbey after World War I and whose life was the basis for the film The Sound of Music, the abbey has acquired international fame. The Mother Abbess during Maria's time at Nonnberg was Sister Virgilia Lütz (1869-1949).

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Founded: ca. 714 AD
Category: Religious sites in Austria

Rating

4.5/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Marc Ha (8 months ago)
Worth the walk up! We traipsed up at 7am to beat the August heat and were rewarded with the views and tranquility that the 8th century monastery offered. Very easy flight of stairs to get up there - took us under 10 mins from the base at a very slow pace.
Barb Lindsay (9 months ago)
I arrived 6:51am (took me longer to get there than anticipated) , and they had started. Both monks and nuns singing. It was beautiful & peaceful. AT 7am, it was interspersed with talking and then singing (all in Latin, I believe), so it sounded like a regular service. I left at 7:15, and they were still going. But the singing is definitely concentrated at the beginning.
Erich Thalacker (9 months ago)
A lovely church, where you can hear the nuns practicing their singing. We thought they were supposed to start at 6:45 am (Thursday, non holiday), but they didn’t start until 7am for us. You won’t actually see them, but you can hear them in the main chapel. Just sit in the chapel and you will hear them throughout the church! 5 star - Need to go! Would go out of way to come.
Nancy Cannon (10 months ago)
Channelling my sound of music I walked from the fortress down hill to the nunnery in an easy 10 minutes. Popular with other SOM fans. You can walk through the tiny front courtyard, enter the iron gates and take selfie. You can also go in the church respectfully. The views over salzburg are lovely.
Sophie (13 months ago)
Waking up at 5am to go hear the nuns sing did not end up panning out… I guess they decided not to sing that day or we just didn’t hear them. Despite not getting to hear the singing, the abbey is stunning during the early hours of the day. The views from this location are to die for and the interior of the church looks just like it does in the Sound of Music. An absolutely magical place.
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