Admont Abbey Library is one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. Designed in the late Baroque style, this “eighth wonder of the world” is straight out of a fairy tale. Located in the Benedictine Abbey of Admont, it’s also the world’s largest monastic library. Colorful frescoes adorn the ceilings, white bookcases with gilded accents line the walls, and ample natural light illuminates the space. The harmonious design reflects the ideals of the Enlightenment, creating a welcoming environment for all seekers of knowledge.
History of Admont Abbey
In 1074, Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg (c. 1010–1088) founded the Admont Benedictine Abbey in Styria, a state in southeast Austria. The abbey originated from an earlier foundation of St. Hemma of Gurk, and the first monks hailed from the Benedictine House of St. Peter in Salzburg.
In the 11th century, the monastery operated a scriptorium, where monks copied and illuminated parchment manuscripts. Thanks to the scriptorium, Admont Abbey became a medieval hub of culture, scholarship, and manuscript production. The abbey’s reputation for erudition grew when it opened a nunnery around 1120. Admont’s nuns produced their own illuminated manuscripts and were renowned for their literary pursuits. Show the boys how it’s done, ladies. Their activities continued until the nunnery closed during the Reformation in the early 1500s.1
The monastery expanded over the years, but in 1865, a fire destroyed most of it. Thankfully, the flames spared the Baroque library. In subsequent years, the abbey was only partly reconstructed.
The Abbey Today
Today, the monastery is alive and well. It’s the oldest surviving abbey in Styria and oversees 29 parishes, a high school of around 700 students, and a nursing home. There are 26 monks living there, with Abbot Gerhard Hafner O.S.B. at the helm.
History of Admont Abbey Library
Archbishop Gebhard donated several books to the newly established abbey in 1074, thus starting its library collection. By the middle of the 12th century, the collection had grown to about 200 manuscripts and finally got its own room, called the Armarium. By the 15th century, the books moved to a room built over the Lady Chapel and were kept in closed cupboards.2
In the 17th century, the books moved again, this time to a library that was about 111 feet long. When the collection grew to about 95,000 volumes, it was supposed to move into a new library designed by architect Gotthard Hayberger. Alas, that library was never to be, because its foundations were sinking.3
Finally, in the 18th century, Abbot Matthaüs Offner (1716–1779) decided a grand library was in order. Reading was an integral part of a monk’s life, as outlined by the Rule of Saint Benedict.4 As such, Offner commissioned architect Josef Hueber (1715–1787) to design a library reflecting the intellectual and philosophical tenets of religious study and the Enlightenment.
Admont Abbey Library’s Art and Architecture
Admont Abbey Library is ornate AF because its art and architecture are in the late Baroque style. A lot is going on here, with architectural features, frescoes, and sculpture mixing to create a highly decorative yet cohesive space.
Hueber began work on the library in 1764 and completed it by 1773. He was inspired by the Imperial Court Library in Vienna and had worked with its architect, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. Accompanying the Baroque architectural elements are frescoes by the artist Bartolomeo Altomonte (1694–1783), completed between 1775 and 1776. The sculptures and reliefs are by Josef Stammel (1695–1765), who worked for the abbey for over four decades.
The Library Hall
Hueber designed Admont Abbey Library as an elongated hall split into three sections: a central oval area underneath the main dome and two lateral rectangular halls, each of which has three domes. So, that’s 7 domes in total. The central hall is 230 feet long, 41 feet high (at the central dome), and 46 feet wide.
The library has two levels, each of which contains tall, white bookcases accented with gold ornamentation. Apparently, the Abbot had the books rebound in white pigskin so they could match the shelves.5 Gross, but good call, because they seamlessly blend into the shelves.
The library hall holds approximately 70,000 books, although the abbey’s collection is about 200,000 in total. The tomes are arranged by subject, with theology in the northern hall and secular disciplines like history, philosophy, and medicine in the southern hall. Underneath the central dome are editions of the Bible and writings of the Church Fathers.
Admont Abbey Library is bright, letting in natural light from 48 bay windows. Light was essential to a monument of the Enlightenment, for “Light should fill the room as well as the mind.”6
The second floor, called the gallery, has a wrought-iron balustrade (railing) running its entire length. The space directly beneath the central dome, however, doesn’t continue the second-floor gallery from the lateral halls and instead contains 12 columns of reddish marble.
Finally, the floor is a muted mosaic of 7,500 brown, beige, and mauve tiles forming an optical illusion.
The Secret Doors of Admont Abbey Library
Admont Abbey Library has secret doors! In the four corner cabinets closest to the dome, secret doors open to reveal staircases to the second-floor gallery. Each of the doors contains fake book spines, so when they’re closed, you’re none the wiser.
Frescoes
Bartolomeo Altomonte painted frescoes in the 7 domes over two years. He was 80 years old when he started painting. Man, just retire already. All kidding aside, I’m glad he didn’t, because he created a gorgeous allegorical tribute to human knowledge. The domes depict the arts and sciences personified as beautiful figures in the heavens, each with their defining attributes. The paintings reflect the subject matter of the tomes in the bookcases below, creating a true temple of knowledge.
To learn about each fresco, click on the “+” to expand the text and see photos.
As you enter the library through the south hall, the first dome’s fresco is dedicated to the arts and technology. Apollo, the Greek god of the arts, poetry, and music, sits in the center with a lyre and harp. The 9 muses and the winged horse Pegasus surround Apollo.
Female figures representing sculpture, music, and painting are also hanging out on nearby clouds. Additionally, various technologies are personified, such as the art of printing, engineering, mechanics, and nautical science. Finally, a putto (a fat, winged baby) points to a tablet with Altamonte’s signature, stating that he made the fresco in 1776 at the age of 76. Well…HE’S A LIAR! He was 82 when he finished the frescoes and shaved off a few years in the inscription. Oh, the vanity.
The next dome in the south hall is a tribute to the natural sciences. Medicine is personified as a man wearing a black doctor’s gown and holding the caduceus staff of Asclepius. He’s handing a prescription to a female figure representing the pharmaceutical sciences. Other scientific disciplines surround the figures, including chemistry, botany, physics, mineralogy, architecture, and mathematics. A female figure with a celestial globe and telescope represents astronomy, and a woman with a globe, magnetic compass, and sundial is the personification of geography.
The last dome in the south hall, which is directly next to the central dome, is theology. Altomonte depicts the personification of theology in the center as a female with the sun on her chest and the lamb of God beside her. The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove is chillin’ next to her as well. She’s accompanied by a woman pointing to the word Veritas (truth) in the Bible, which tells us Christianity is the true religion. The three divine virtues—Hope, Faith, and Charity—are also present, as well as the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, fortitude, counsel, knowledge, piety, and fear of God).
The central dome is the theme of divine revelation. Its placement at the center of the hall signifies it is the source and inspiration for the arts and sciences depicted in the other 6 domes. Altomonte painted the personification of divine revelation in the center of the fresco, with the name of God in Hebrew above her. She is divine wisdom, the epitome of knowledge, the big cheese. The whole point of monastic study was to obtain wisdom. To achieve this, you had to engage in intellectual pursuits.7 These pursuits were, in turn, possible with a temple of knowledge—a library—at your disposal.
Moses sits to the left of divine revelation, representing the Old Testament. Ecclesia (the Church) is to the right, symbolizing the New Testament. Surrounding the group are the 4 Latin Church fathers, the 4 prophets, the 4 Evangelists, and a cadre of other religious figures/saints.
Next up is jurisprudence, also known as the School of Law, in the northern hall. The center of the fresco contains two figures representing canon law and secular law. Above them is an angel holding the scales of justice. Below them is a representation of the secular power that enforces legal justice, as well as Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of justice. Athena’s about to smite two figures representing hubris (a man with asses’ ears) and deception (a woman with a mask and a peacock).
The fresco also includes an angel smiting the personifications of fornication and injustice with a thunderbolt. We’ve also got a group of figures with chains, a pillory, and birch rods, symbolizing the punishments you’ll receive if you’re naughty and break the law. But fear not, if you are good, you will receive rewards, represented by charity, fasting, and prayer.
The next dome in the northern hall contains frescoes depicting history and its auxiliary disciplines. A female figure wearing Mercury’s winged helmet represents history. Putti (remember, these are fat, winged babies) are flying around, carrying books galore. Chronos, the god of time, sits on a cloud below the figure of history. Allegorical figures around the dome’s rim symbolize logic, geography, diplomacy, heraldry, genealogy, and the study of antiquities.
The first dome in the north hall depicts the awakening of the spirit. Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn, brings forth light and holds her flaming torch of Enlightenment. Her light drives out darkness, represented by ignorance, folly, and sloth.
Below her, Morpheus, the god of sleep (not from the Matrix), symbolizes the awakening of the mind. Altomonte also includes personifications of dialectics, grammar, the study of languages, and scholarship.
Sculpture
The Admont Abbey Library is adorned with sculptures and reliefs by Josef Stammel. He used painted lime wood, giving his works the illusion of bronze sculpture. To explore Stammel’s reliefs and sculptures, click on the “+” for text and photos.
In the south hall, a large relief of the Judgment of Solomon hangs high above the entrance, representing human wisdom. The scene depicts Solomon ruling over two women, each claiming to be the mother of the same child. Solomon said, “Okay…let’s settle this by cutting the baby in half—you each get a piece!” The real mother said, “Absolutely not, don’t hurt the baby.” The false mother was like, “Yeah, sure.” Thus, the true mama was revealed.
Above the north hall’s entrance is a relief of Jesus Preaching in the Temple, representing divine wisdom.
4 larger-than-life sculptures are in the south hall, in the corners of the second floor. We have Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, Elijah with a raven bringing him food, St. Peter with the keys to the kingdom of Heaven, and St. Paul with a sword, the symbol of his martyrdom.
Like the south hall, there are also 4 larger-than-life sculptures in each corner of the north gallery. These figures are the 4 Evangelists with their attributes: St. Luke with an ox, St. John with an eagle, St. Mark with a lion, and St. Matthew with an angel.
In the central dome room, high above the bookcases, are sculptures of the four virtues: Divine wisdom, eternal truth, science, and prudence.
In addition to large sculptures, 68 gilded console busts adorn the bookcases. They depict scholars, artists, poets, sculptors, and sibyls. Stammel likely carved 60 out of 68.
Stammel outdid himself with the group of 4 sculptures called The Four Last Things. In the center dome room, larger-than-life allegorical figures represent the last things a human must face: Death, the Last Judgement/Resurrection, Hell, and Heaven.
Death and the Last Judgment
Death is an aged pilgrim with a winged skeleton flying above him. The skeleton holds a winged hourglass, symbolizing that the pilgrim’s time is up.
The Last Judgement depicts a young man rising from his grave. There’s a scholarly-looking demon at his feet (he’s wearing glasses and is honestly kind of cute), representing the prosecutor, or devil’s advocate. A big book with the young man’s life deeds weighs down the demon. It is these deeds that will ultimately decide his fate. A gravestone depicting a skull and a snuffed-out candle is on the right. It bears the date 1760, when Stammel sculpted the piece.
Josef Stammel (1695–1765), Death and The Last Judgment, 1760, lime wood painted bronze. Admont Abbey Library.
Heaven and Hell
Heaven—where we all want to end up—is a female figure decked out in jewels and glorious clothing. An angel lifts her to Heaven, and she looks upward, away from the earthly plane, towards Paradise.
Hell is a nightmare waiting to happen. A naked, damned man is on the shoulders of a hybrid creature with the head of an animal. The damned soul is not having a good time and has look of terror on his face. The creature pulls him into the flames of Hell, and he tries to defend himself with a dagger. Alas, it’s no use, because the floating heads below him represent his vices and the reasons for his damnation.
This is heavy stuff for a library, but think about who the primary users were. Throughout its existence as a monastic library, Benedictine monks were the audience. They’d see The Last Four Things, their destiny as human beings, and be encouraged to stick to religion, its teachings, and its virtues (represented by the other larger-than-life sculptures) to achieve Paradise.8
Josef Stammel (1695–1765), Heaven and Hell, 1760, lime wood painted bronze. Admont Abbey Library.
Did Admont Abbey Library Inspire Disney’s Beauty and the Beast?
I’ve seen all over social media (Instagram and Pinterest, I’m looking at you) that Admont Abbey Library inspired Disney animators when they created the library in Beauty and the Beast. Unfortunately, I have not discovered any evidence from Disney or the animators confirming this.
So, why the claim? In my opinion, when looking at Admont Abbey Library, folks think of Beast’s library because of its late Baroque architecture. After all, Cogsworth makes a nod to the castle’s style when he says, “If it’s not Baroque, don’t fix it!”
Similarities between the two libraries include white bookcases with gilded ornamentation and multiple stories (Beast’s has 3 floors in one area and 2 in another).
Interestingly, another part of Beast’s castle reminds me more of Admont Abbey Library—the ballroom. While Belle and Beast are dancing to Tale as Old as Time, we get glimpses of the frescoed dome ceiling, which looks a bit like Altomonte’s style, albeit much simpler. While Altomonte’s frescoes are full of complex allegorical figures in the heavens, Beast’s ballroom ceiling only has some putti flying around and lounging on clouds. Still, the style is similar.
Now that we’ve explored why Admont Abbey Library looks like it’s from a fairytale, let’s talk about its books.
Admont Abbey Library Collection
The earliest books to enter the library’s collection were brought to the abbey in 1074 by Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg. Examples include the Admont Giant Bible (Gebhard Bible), c. 1070, and an illuminated Book of Gospels (Codex 511) dating to the end of the 11th century. These early manuscripts were from St. Peter’s in Salzburg, where a scriptorium had been in operation since the 7th century.9
As mentioned previously, monks were churning out books in the abbey’s scriptorium, which had been established in the 1100s. After production ceased, the library’s collection came from purchases and donations.
In the 12th century, the abbey started to record the names of librarians overseeing the collection. In the 13th century, Abbot Engelbert expanded the collection with new acquisitions. By 1370, librarians created the first collection catalogue.10
During the 19th and 20th centuries, the abbey acquired more volumes, bringing the collection to over 145,000. In the 1930s, Admont fell on hard times and sold some of its famous manuscripts to keep afloat. To make matters worse, the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938 and kicked the monks out of their monastery. They divided the library collection and distributed it among various institutions, including the concentration camp at Dachau. Those damn Nazis. Thankfully, when the monks returned in 1945, they were able to get most of the collection back.11
The Collection Today
Today, the abbey’s collection contains about 200,000 volumes. The library hall houses about 70,000 printed books, arranged thematically. The subjects include Bibles, the Church Fathers, exegeses, religious canon, ascetic writings, sermons, Church history, and theology. Secular themes include medicine, the sciences, philosophy, history, humanist writings, civil law, and politics.
The most valuable parts of the collection include 1,400 manuscripts, the earliest of which date to the 8th century. There are also 530 early printed books, called incunabula. The abbey houses these precious tomes in the archive, located one floor below the library hall. This dedicated space has a climate-controlled environment that regulates temperature and relative humidity to ensure preservation of fragile materials.
Visiting Admont Abbey Library
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While Admont Abbey Library is a monastic library, it’s open to the public. Visitors can take a self-guided tour and opt for an audio guide. You can also take a 40-minute guided tour, although it’s in German. For ticketing information, click here, and for their hours of operation, click here.
The abbey also provides special guided tours, such as visiting the library at night or adding a wine tasting to your experience.
While visiting the library, be sure to check out the Gothic Museum, the Museum of Art History, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Natural History Museum, and special exhibitions.
You can, of course, make a day of it and explore the rest of the monastery. There are historic gardens, baroque chapels, and a restaurant.
Admont Abbey is in Styria, near the Nationalpark Gesäuse. The easiest way to get there is by car. It’s about 3 hours from Vienna, 2 hours from Salzburg, and 90 minutes from Graz.
You can also take the train there, although some routes also require taking a bus. Check out the ÖBB website or app for tickets and routes.
Can’t make it to Austria to see the library in person? No problemo. You can visit the library virtually through a 3D tour experience. It is amazing. All you have to do is click the link and select a quick ad to watch. Once the ad is over, your tour begins!
The 3D tour includes audio guides as well as short videos by Father Prior Maximilian Schiefermüller, O.S.B., Prior of Admont Abbey and Abbey Archivist and Librarian. Perhaps the coolest feature is that you can browse some of the books. Once inside the library, you will see icons on the shelves that, when you click, open a book. You can then leaf through the pages of the digitized copy. While nothing beats seeing the library in person, this is a great alternative.
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Footnotes
- Sladek, Massimo Listri, 482. ↩︎
- Campbell, The Library, 200; Sladek, Massimo Listri, 482. ↩︎
- Campbell, The Library, 200. ↩︎
- Bosser, The Most Beautiful, 24. ↩︎
- Campbell, The Library, 200. ↩︎
- Benedictine Abbey of Admont, “World’s Largest Monastery Library.” ↩︎
- Campbell, The Library, 204. ↩︎
- Bosser, The Most Beautiful, 24. ↩︎
- Sladek, Massimo Listri,” 482. ↩︎
- Bosser, The Most Beautiful, 24. ↩︎
- Bosser, The Most Beautiful, 24. ↩︎
Bibliography & Further Reading
*Several of the following links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no cost to you.
Benedictine Abbey of Admont. “World’s Largest Monastery Library.” Benediktinerstift Admont. Benedictine Abbey of Admont. Accessed June 25, 2025.
Bosser, Jacques. The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World. Translated by Laurel Hirsch. Photography by Guillaume de Laubier. Abrams Books, 2003.
Campbell, James W.P. The Library: A World History. Illustrated by Will Pryce. University of Chicago Press, 2013.
Sladek, Elisabeth, and Georg Ruppelt. Massimo Listri: The World’s Most Beautiful Libraries. Photography by Massimo Listri. Taschen, 2018.
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