St. Peter and Nonnberg

ST. PETER AND NONNBERG. - They are the two oldest Benedictine abbeys in the entire German territory, both founded by St. Rupert around 690-95 at Iuvavum, the present-day city of Salzburg (v.); St. Peter's for monks, now an archabbey, Nonnberg for nuns.

This twin foundation is historically and spiritually inseparable. In the founder's mind the female monastery was to help support the monks' work of culture and civilization, as it also did later. Both followed the Rule of St. Benedict, at least from the 8th century.

I. SANKT PETER

According to the custom of the time, the abbot was also bishop of the diocese from 739. His election as abbot belonged to the monastic Chapter. The possessions too were held in common. The first monastery with the church was situated immediately below the cliffs of the mountain of the future castle (Hohensalzburg), under the protection of the nearby "castellum superior", which became the seat of the nuns. Within those cliffs are found the so-called "catacombs", natural caves, partly artificially enlarged, believed to have been a refuge of the first Christians, indeed the place of martyrdom of the supposed St. Maximus. But some relation of continuity with the Christianity of the Roman age may have existed. In 684 the archbishopric was separated from the abbey; in 1039 the election of the archbishop, who had also become a prince of the Empire, passed to the cathedral Chapter. Conrad II

(1106-47), prince-archbishop, built his own residence near the Cathedral, leaving the old one to the monks as a monastery, near which, under him, another was also erected for nuns, lasting until 1583.

The abbey of S. P. had its own scriptorium, flourishing especially in the 8th-9th and 11th-12th centuries, and remained for the city and for the archdiocese a continuous source of spiritual life. From 1617 with the gymnasium and especially from 1623 with the University the Benedictines dominated the culture of the country. From 1641 to 1808 S. P. was also the seat of the Salzburg Benedictine Congregation. The suppressions at the end of the 18th century left the abbey undisturbed; the closure of the University (1810) and the suppression of its own Congregation (1808) limited its influence. It nevertheless always remained the most eminent intellectual and cultural center. Abbot W. Hauthaler (1901-22), a celebrated historian and scholar, gave strong impetus to the external and internal life of the monastery. In 1923-25 a new wing was built for the "Collegium Benedictinum", a kind of boarding school for young Benedictine monks attending the theological and philosophical Faculty of Salzburg. Much admired is the grandiose Crucifix in the atrium, by J. Adlhart. In 1927 S. P. was elevated to an archabbey. The Austrian liturgical Institute has its seat there, under the patronage of the episcopate; the liturgical Commission is also joined to it; the abbey church is known for its classical celebrations of the liturgy, often broadcast by radio. The professors of the two Faculties of the nascent Catholic University are for the most part Benedictines.

Art. - S. P. is a marvelous complex of buildings, courtyards, with fountains, chapels, monuments, arisen in the course of the centuries. The primitive church (situated directly below the cliffs) was fairly early moved to the present, safer site. After the fire of 1127 it was rebuilt in 1130-43, in Romanesque style. It is of the Saxon type, with three naves, with a large choir, divided by the "lectorium". In 1622 a transept was raised with a dome heightened in 1757, when the upper part of the Romanesque bell tower (70 m. high) was rebuilt. Subsequently (1758-83) the decoration of the interior began according to the artistic taste of the time, in a kind of Rococo (B. Zöpfl), while nevertheless leaving the Romanesque structure of the building intact. The canvases of the 16 altars, all of the same period, are by J. M. Schmidt ("Kremerschmidt"). Notable is the atrium, still Romanesque, with the Rococo portal and the monumental railing (1768) by Ph. Hinterascher. Preserved in a side altar is a statue in artificial stone (Steinguss), from the first half of the 15th century, a typical Salzburg product (Maria Säul). The church also preserves the tomb of St. Vitalis, a great sculpture by the master Hans (1497), and the memorial tomb of St. Rupert (1444), with an altar (1741). Of the ancient cloister only a part survives, with the chapel of St. Vitus (1391).

Very famous is the cemetery of S. P., with a circuit of arcades around it (1626) and with a quantity of monuments of every style and period. There are found the chapels of the Holy Cross, on the site of the primitive church, rebuilt in 1710, the Romanesque one of St. Catherine, the Gothic one of St. Margaret (1485-91) and, in the so-called catacombs, the chapels of St. Gertrude (1178), of St. Maximus, and of St. Giles on the place where St. Rupert is said to have prayed. The monastery keeps the great Library (more than 80,000 vols.) and the precious Archive with many parchments and illuminated codices. Coming from the abbey's school of illumination are the so-called Psalter of St. Erentrude (now in Munich) of the 12th century, the Proper Antiphonary of S. P. (c. 1150), and the so-called Bible of Erlangen, from the place where it is preserved. Very notable is the - Salzburger Verbrüderungsbuch v begun in the 8th century, for the communication of prayer and good works, with thousands of entries. There is furthermore the Treasury, with very precious pieces, from the 11th century onward, Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque chasubles; a coin collection, and other art collections.

II. NONNBERG

Dedicated to St. Mary and St. Erentrude, it stands on the site of the castellum superius, donated by Duke Theodo to St. Rupert, on the hill now called N. St. Rupert placed his own relative St. Erentrude at the head of the new foundation. Before long the endowment grew considerably, through donations from emperors, princes and nobles. N. was always a true beacon of light thanks to its schools for women. The abbess, given also the economic importance of the monastery, had a seat and a voice together with the prelates in the Diet of the archiepiscopal principality, and obtained (1242) the right to the pontifical insignia: faldstool, pastoral staff, princely crown, which are still preserved. Until the 18th century only noblewomen were admitted to N. From this abbey other female abbeys were also founded or reformed.

Today N. forms an irregular but exceedingly picturesque ensemble, on the south-western hill of the city. During the 11th century the church and convent were rebuilt: in the Romanesque crypt stands the mausoleum of St. Erentrude and St. Regintrude. After a fire (1423) the church and monastery were rebuilt in Gothic forms, preserving a few Romanesque remains. The present crypt is the Gothic one, the last great crypt built beyond the Alps. The church preserves many works of art, Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque; famous are the frescoes in the old nuns' choir, of about 1150. The Baroque era brought modifications to the entire architectural complex.

The rarest piece of the Treasury is the faldstool of 1242, a work of ivory, gold, filigree and passages of painting, which has no equal; the related ivory pastoral staff and other pastoral staffs, precious reliquaries, sculptures, tapestries, etc. In the convent a Crucifix of the 13th century is still preserved; then the grandiose Crucifix, of the 14th century, from the old cathedral of Salzburg, of a surprising expressiveness; a Gothic altar of 1460, also from the old Cathedral, and remains of a great altar or choir stall by the sculptor Veit Stoss (late 15th century). - See pl. CXIV.

Giuseppe Löw