{"id":63163,"date":"2023-09-07T05:34:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T04:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=63163"},"modified":"2025-04-28T10:07:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T09:07:55","slug":"klosterneuburg-abbey-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/klosterneuburg-abbey-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Klosterneuburg abbey tour"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/klosterneuburgtoursmall.jpg\" alt=\"Church tower of Stift Klosterneuburg\" class=\"wp-image-63160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/klosterneuburgtoursmall.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/klosterneuburgtoursmall-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>A simple entrance ticket gets you into the famous treasury of Stift Klosterneuburg. But is it worth the small upgrade fee to do an additional abbey tour?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Yes, tours are well-worth it for the price<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Access, for example:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u2026magnificent imperial rooms<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u2026medieval cloisters and chapels<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u2026priceless art (like the Verdun altar)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u2026even the wine cellars<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/concerts-opera-vienna-tickets-l206741\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_Churches\" rel=\"sponsored\">classical concert<\/a>* in a church or palais<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/activities\/day-trips\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"18205\">Day trips from Vienna<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/mapsgeography\/melk-abbey-tour\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"62844\">Tour of Melk Abbey<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Marble and gold<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosterneuburg2.jpg\" alt=\"Baroque Imperial fa\u00e7ade of Klosterneuburg abbey\" class=\"wp-image-63099\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosterneuburg2.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosterneuburg2-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The Baroque Imperial fa\u00e7ade of Klosterneuburg abbey)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elsewhere, I have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/klosterneuburg-abbey\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"63157\">general information<\/a> on visiting Stift Klosterneuburg from Vienna. However, some of the key historical parts remain off-limits to visitors, unless you go on a guided tour. You main options at the time of writing include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wine cellar tour plus a wine tasting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A tour of the abbey (which takes you to the ecclesiastical parts only)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A grand tour of the abbey (as above, with the addition of the imperial rooms)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Tours are in German, but you can ask for an audio guide that gives you the same information in English as you go around with the guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We took the grand tour, which cost just a few Euros on top of the usual entrance fee and was worth every cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After an initial introduction to the history of the abbey and the legend around its foundation, we moved to the imperial rooms built for Emperor Charles VI in the 1730s before he died (taking the wider construction project with him).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Marble Hall &amp; imperial wing<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"425\" height=\"377\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosternueburgmarblehall.jpg\" alt=\"Marble Hall in the Baroque wing of Stift Klosterneuburg\" class=\"wp-image-63167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosternueburgmarblehall.jpg 425w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosternueburgmarblehall-300x266.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The marble hall within the Imperial rooms; \u00a9 Stift Klosterneuburg \/ Alexander Haiden)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First stop was the great marble hall, which seems to be a thing in the baroque era given both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/mapsgeography\/day-trip-melk-abbey\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"62841\">Melk Abbey<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/belvedere-sites\/upper-belvedere-palace\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"3521\">Upper Belvedere<\/a> have a similar room. Marble columns draw your eye up to a ceiling covered with frescoes and illusionist wall paintings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remarkably, this hall was only intended as a waiting room for those granted an audience with the emperor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No doubt the weight of all the marble, allegorical paintings and imperial magnificence would have left petitioners a mortified mess and reluctant to trouble the ruler with demands for tax relief. Clever.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"356\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosterneuburgkaiserzimmer.jpg\" alt=\"Dining room with the Imperial part of the Klosterneuburg abbey\" class=\"wp-image-63095\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosterneuburgkaiserzimmer.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosterneuburgkaiserzimmer-300x214.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The Speisezimmer within the Imperial rooms; \u00a9 Stift Klosterneuburg \/ Alexander Haiden)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We then saw several further imperial rooms, each replete with the usual elegant reliefs, fittings and furniture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Expect empire-style upholstered chairs, the kind of writing desk reserved for drafting international treaties, tall rococo candle holders with built-in Japanese vases, damask silk wall coverings, tapestries, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although just a fraction of the abandoned project for a grand residence by the Danube, you certainly gain an understanding of what the overall effect would have been like; I&#8217;m guessing Charles VI was not a man with modest needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><em>Ad:<\/em><br><\/div><div data-tiqets-widget=\"discovery\" data-cards-layout=\"horizontal\" data-slug-ids=\"exp206741,exp238032\" data-partner=\"visitingvienna\" data-tq-campaign=\"DA_ConcTour\"><\/div><script defer src=\"https:\/\/widgets.tiqets.com\/loader.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The abbey church<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosternueburgchurchinterior.jpg\" alt=\"Interior view of the Stiftskirche at Klosterneuburg\" class=\"wp-image-63134\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosternueburgchurchinterior.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosternueburgchurchinterior-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The interior of the Stiftskirche; \u00a9 Stift Klosterneuburg \/ J\u00fcrgen Skarwan)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next tour stop was the Stiftskirche, which shines almost brilliant white, thanks to recent cleaning and renovation of the fa\u00e7ade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Completed in 1136, much has changed across the intervening centuries. For example, as with so many churches, the interior went through a baroque redesign. The last big renovation in the 1880s even saw the towers replaced with pointed versions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inside hits you with all the magnificence of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/baroque\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"30588\">Baroque era<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"372\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/klosterneuburgchurch1875.jpg\" alt=\"Towers of the Klosterneuburg abbey church sometime in the second half of the 19th century\" class=\"wp-image-63103\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/klosterneuburgchurch1875.jpg 372w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/klosterneuburgchurch1875-248x300.jpg 248w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 372px) 100vw, 372px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The Stiftskirche church as it was just prior to the renovation and redesign of the late 19th century; photo by Andreas Groll; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 157186\/10; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The nave actually becomes progressively less three dimensional in its decoration as you walk down it, reflecting changes in historical trends across the length of time it took to complete the redesign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And the 17th-century organ (which, incidentally, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/bruckner\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"39444\">Anton Bruckner<\/a> used to practice on) looks like the kind of astonishing instrument you&#8217;d play with a mask covering half your face and a wilting rose on the table next to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cloisters and Verdun altar<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosternueburgverdunaltar.jpg\" alt=\"Left and central panel of the Verdun alter\" class=\"wp-image-63098\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosternueburgverdunaltar.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosternueburgverdunaltar-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosternueburgverdunaltar-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/stiftklosternueburgverdunaltar-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The Verdun altar; \u00a9 Stift Klosterneuburg \/ J\u00fcrgen Skarwan)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then it was down through the cloisters that date back to the 13th and 14th centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A gold reliquary chest with relics of the abbey&#8217;s founder and later saint (Margrave Leopold III) hangs in the Leopold chapel here. Precious though that item is, the true highlight is the Verdun altar below it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Completed after ten years of work around 1181 in fire-gilt enamel panels, this pulpit panelling was repurposed as an altar piece sometime after 1330.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The long ecclesiastical work depicts stories from the Bible. Rows of strategicall-placed illustrations build connections between the Old and New Testaments.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"349\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/klosterneuburgschiele.jpg\" alt=\"Cloister painting by Schiele\" class=\"wp-image-74190\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/klosterneuburgschiele.jpg 349w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/klosterneuburgschiele-233x300.jpg 233w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 349px) 100vw, 349px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The famous artist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/egon-schiele\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"3550\">Egon Schiele<\/a> painted the abbey cloisters in 1907; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 304985; reproduced under the terms of the <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY 4.0<\/a> license; photo by Birgit and Peter Kainz, Wien Museum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cloisters and rooms offer an authentic dip into medieval history, despite all the rebuilding work of later centuries. You can almost imagine ghosts of the past in wispy cowls and tunics flitting around the edge of your sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here you also discover further gems of the abbey collection, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The separated back of the Verdun altar: these painted panels done at the time of the repurposing represent a work of art in their own right. They include early (and not entirely successful) attempts at building perspective into the pictures<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A huge bronze candelabra that looks almost tree like. Since the founders gifted this to the abbey, it must date back to before 1136<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And just when you think you&#8217;ve reached the limits of the journey through time, you pass through a collection of gravestones and remnants of artefacts from Roman times before emerging into the Babenberg courtyard outside, where the tour ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Back to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/klosterneuburg-abbey\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"63157\">Klosterneuburg abbey overview<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>See what to expect on a tour of the imperial rooms, cloisters, church, chapels, Verdun altar, and more<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63160,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-63163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sights","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63163"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82857,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63163\/revisions\/82857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}