SANKT PETER E NONNBERG

**SANKT PETER and NONNBERG** – These are the two oldest Benedictine abbeys in all of German territory, both founded by St. Rupert around 690–95 at Iuvavum, the present-day city of Salzburg (v.); St. Peter for monks, now an archabbey, and Nonnberg for nuns.

This twin foundation is historically and spiritually inseparable. In the founder’s vision, the women’s monastery was to assist in supporting the monks’ work of culture and civilization, as it continued to do later. Both followed the Rule of St. Benedict, at least from the 8th century.

I. **SANKT PETER** – In keeping with the style of the time, the abbot was also bishop of the diocese from 739. His election as abbot was the responsibility of the monastic chapter. The properties were also held in common. The first monastery with its church was located immediately beneath the cliffs of the future castle hill (Hohensalzburg), under the protection of the nearby “castellum superius,” which became the seat of the nuns. Within those cliffs are the so-called “catacombs,” natural caves, partly enlarged artificially, believed to have been refuges of the early Christians, even the place of martyrdom of the supposed St. Maximus. However, any continuous connection with the Christianity of the Roman era may be doubted. In 684 the archbishop 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, during his time, another was erected for nuns, lasting until 1583.

The abbey of St. Peter had its own scribes, especially active in the 8th–9th and 11th–12th centuries, and remained for the city and 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 land. From 1641 to 1808 St. Peter was also the seat of the Salzburg Benedictine Congregation. The suppressions at the end of the 18th century left the abbey undisturbed; the closing of the university (1810) and the suppression of its own congregation (1808) limited its influence. It nevertheless remained the most eminent intellectual and cultural center. Abbot W. Hauthaler (1901–22), a renowned 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 house for young Benedictine monks who attend the theological and philosophical faculties of Salzburg. Much admired is the grand Crucifix in the atrium, by J. Adlhart. In 1927 St. Peter was elevated to an archabbey. It houses the Austrian Liturgical Institute, under the patronage of the episcopate; it is also joined by the Liturgical Commission. The abbey church is noted for classical liturgical performances, often broadcast by radio. Benedictines form the majority of the professors in the two faculties of the emerging Catholic University.

**Art.** – St. Peter is a remarkable complex of buildings, courtyards, with fountains, chapels, and monuments, developed over the centuries. The primitive church (located directly beneath the cliffs) was soon moved to its present, safer site. After the fire of 1127 it was rebuilt in 1130–43 in the Romanesque style. It is of the Saxon type, with three naves, a large choir separated by the “lectorium.” In 1622 a transept was added with a dome raised in 1757, when the upper part of the Romanesque bell tower (70 m. high) was rebuilt. Subsequently (1758–83) the interior decoration began in the artistic taste of the time, in a kind of rococo (B. Zöpfl), while leaving intact the Romanesque structure of the building. The canvases of the 16 altars, all of the same period, are by J. M. Schmidt (“Kremserschmidt”). Notable is the still-Romanesque atrium, with the rococo portal and the monumental grille (1768) by Ph. Hinterascher. In a side altar is preserved 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 large sculpture by Master Hans (1497), and the memorial tomb of St. Rupert (1444), with an altar (1741). Of the ancient cloister only a part remains, with the chapel of St. Vitus (1391).

Famous is the cemetery of St. Peter, surrounded by arcades (1626) and containing a quantity of monuments of every style and period. Here are the chapels of the Holy Cross, on the site of the primitive church, rebuilt in 1710; the Romanesque chapel of St. Catherine; the Gothic chapel of St. Margaret (1485–91); and, in the so-called catacombs, the chapels of St. Gertrude (1178), St. Maximus, and St. Giles, on the spot where St. Rupert is said to have prayed. The monastery preserves the great Library (more than 80,000 volumes) and the precious Archive with many parchments and illuminated codices. From the abbey’s school of illumination come the Psalter called of St. Erentrude (now in Munich) of the 12th century; the Proper Antiphonary of St. Peter (c. 1150); and the Bible called of Erlangen, from the place where it is kept. Most notable is the “Salzburger Verbrüderungsbuch,” begun in the 8th century, for the communication of prayer and good works, with thousands of entries. There is also the Treasury, with very precious pieces from the 11th century onward: Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque chasubles; a medal 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 Theodoric to St. Rupert on the hill now called Nonnberg. St. Rupert placed his relative St. Erentrude in charge of the new foundation. Soon the endowment grew greatly through donations from emperors, princes, and nobles. Nonnberg was always a true beacon of light thanks to its women’s schools. The abbess, given the monastery’s economic importance, had a seat and voice alongside the prelates in the Diet of the archiepiscopal principality, and obtained (1242) the right to pontifical insignia: a crozier, a pastoral staff, and a princely crown, which are still preserved. Until the 18th century only noblewomen were admitted to Nonnberg. From this abbey other women’s abbeys were also founded or reformed.

Today Nonnberg forms an irregular but highly picturesque ensemble on the southwestern hill of the city. During the 11th century the church and convent were rebuilt: in the Romanesque crypt lies 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 Gothic, the last great crypt built beyond the apex. The church preserves many works of art, Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque; famous are the frescoes in the ancient choir of the nuns, from c. 1150. The Baroque period brought modifications to the entire architectural complex.

The rarest piece in the Treasury is the crozier of 1242, an ivory work with gold, filigree, and touches of painting, without parallel; the related pastoral staff in ivory and other pastoral staves, precious reliquaries, sculptures, tapestries, etc. In the convent is still preserved a Crucifix from the 13th century; then the grand Crucifix from the 14th century, from the old cathedral of Salzburg, of striking expressiveness; a Gothic altar from 1460, also from the old cathedral, and remains of a large altar or by the sculptor Veit Stoss (late 15th century). – See pl. CXIV.