Göss

GÖSS. - Formerly an abbey of Benedictine nuns, situated near Leoben (Styria) and converted into a brewery in 1886.

The foundation is owed to the family of the Aribones, of the branch of the counts of Leoben (Adula and Aribo, later archbishop of Mainz), and falls between the years 994 and 1020. At the beginning, as it seems, there were regular canonesses; but, certainly from the 12th century, Benedictine nuns. Besides its economic-social influence, the monastery always had great fame as an institute for the education of noblewomen. The abbess had a seat and a voice in the Diet of Styria. Moreover, G. was always a center of women's art: famous is the "Gösser Ornat," richly embroidered, a grandiose work of the 13th century, now in the Museum of Art and Industry in Vienna. Frescoes of the 13th century are found in the former chapter hall; the choir of the abbey church is later than 1338, but preserves beneath it the crypt of the 11th century. The three great Gothic naves were consecrated in 1515; four enormous twisted columns and a grandiose portal are preserved. Despite lively protests in Styria, Joseph II suppressed the abbey in 1782, using its revenues for the ephemeral bishopric of Leoben (1786-1856). Worth noting, near G., is the former church of St. Lambert, which is said to have been consecrated by St. Leo XI.

Giuseppe Löw