WILTEN. - Abbey of Premonstratensian Canons, near Innsbruck, in Austrian Tyrol, formerly under the diocese of Bressanone.

On the site of the Roman station of Veldidena, where the ancient Brenner road reaches the floor of the Inn valley, there already existed in the 5th-6th century a sanctuary in honor of St. Lawrence; in the early Middle Ages regular canons established themselves there, and they were followed in 1138 by the Premonstratensians, called by Bishop Reginbert of Bressanone. The abbey developed very well; it obtained the use of pontifical insignia in 1449 and was favored by the reigning houses. Under the brief Bavarian rule it was suppressed (1807), but shortly afterward restored (1816). It governs 14 incorporated parishes. Church and monastery, after various rebuildings and enlargements, were rebuilt in the Baroque era. The church, a somewhat heavy work by Christoph Gumpp (1651-65), has a projecting front by G. A. Gumpp (1716), very vigorous, with statues by N. Moll. The interior, Baroque, is the work of various artists (high altar by P. Huber); it preserves many canvases by A. Steidl. The monastery too was renovated and rebuilt, on a design by Cr. Gumpp, by G. Appeller. Imposing are the facade, the vestibule, the imperial halls; the chapter hall is Gothic, but Baroqueized; the Library is beautiful. Very many tomb slabs are noteworthy, from 1300 down to the late Gothic and Renaissance. Worthy of note are the rotunda of St. Bartholomew, whose first mention is from 1275, but of Romanesque origin, a baptistery or ossuary (Karner), and the parish church of W., of 1140, completely rebuilt by Fr. Penz (1751-55), with Rococo decoration; stuccoes by F. S. Feichtmaier (of Wessobrunn) and frescoes by M. Gunter (of Augsburg); it served as a model for many other churches of Tyrol.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: Cottineau, II, col. 3456; H. Schuler, s. v. in LThK, X, 927-28; G. Dehio, Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, part 2, Österreich, I, Vienna 1935, p. 408 (with plan); Die bildende Kunst in Österreich, edited by K. Ginhart, 5 vols., Baden 1936-39 (see indexes); E. Schaffran, Kunstgeschichte Österreichs, Vienna 1948, passim; E. Tomek, Kirchengesch. Österreichs, 2 vols., Innsbruck 1935-49.

Giuseppe Löw

WILTEN - Abbey buildings of W. in the Baroque remodelling (1679-96) by the architect Cristoforo Gumpo and the master G. Appeller; the church facade is by G. A. Gumpo (1716), son of the former.(phot. Scholtborn & Co.)

@incollection{ec12_wilten, author = {Lów, Giuseppe}, title = {Wilten}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {1694--1695}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/wilten} }

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