Zwettl, the administrative and communications hub of the western Waldviertel, lies at the junction of the Zwettlbach with the River Kamp. This attractive old town is particularly well known for its nearby Cistercian abbey, founded by the Count of Kuenringen in 1138, when the town first appears in the records.
To the southwest of Zwettl, on a wooded crag above the Kleiner Kamp, stands Burg Rappottenstein. Of the original 12th C. castle there remain the keep and the five sided tower at the south end. The imposing complex of buildings is laid out around five courtyards. In the first courtyard is a small house (1548-1549); in the innermost are a two story Renaissance loggia; windows with sgraffito painting, a Late Gothic Squires' Hall and a smoke-blackened kitchen. The two story chapel (1378) in the keep has 16th C. wall paintings.
Continue from the Zwettl Cistercian Abbey Abteihof by way of the Prälatur into the magnificent Cloister (1180-1240), with a plethora of features showing the transition from Romanesque to Gothic. The capitals of the columns are decorated partly with leaves and partly with buds. The perambulatory windows have Late Gothic tracery.
At Landstrasse 65 in Zwettl stands the Antonturm, a 13th C. tower on the old town walls, now housing the Anton-Museum, a small private museum containing old implements and utensils, weapons and pictures (admission on request). The Late Gothic St Martin's Church was originally the church of a hospice just outside the town.
From the Zwettl Cistercian Abbey courtyard pass through the Romanesque Chapel (1218) and enter the open Lindenhof, beyond which lies the Abteihof (17th and 18th C.), a square enclosure, Early Baroque in form, with a fountain.
Standing on raised ground, the Propsteikirche of St John the Evangelist was built in the 12th C. as the family church of the Counts Kuenringen; with its churchyard, the round 13th C. charnel house and the Romanesque St Michael's Chapel (frescos) it forms a handsome group.
The Museum of Freemasonry provides information on the history of the organization, especially in the 18th C. Special exhibitions are held every two years.
Address: Österreichischer Freimaurermuseum, A-3924 Rosenau, Austria
To the west of Zwettl (3km/2mi along the road to Weitra, then turn left), on a hill (620m/2,035ft), stands the village of Schloss Rosenau (Schlosshotel). The castle, well restored and renovated in 1966-1971, dates in its present form from 1730-1748, when it was rebuilt in Roccoco style by Daniel Gran and others. It contains an interesting Museum of Freemasonry.
Considerable stretches of the old town walls and several defensive towers have been preserved. The straggling Stadtplatz is lined with 16th and 17th C. burghers' houses with fine fronts, and the Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus; built 1307, frequently altered in later centuries and well restored in 1978), with 15th C. frescos on the exterior and a Plague Column of 1727. At the southeast end of the square stands the parish church of the Assumption, basically a three aisled Late Romanesque basilica (13th C.) with a Gothic choir, octagonal east tower and a west tower.
On the east side of the Zwettl Cistercian Abbey Cloister lies the even earlier Chapterhouse (1159-80), with ribbed vaulting borne on a central granite column. Other Early Medieval buildings are the Refectory (remodeled in the Baroque style), the Calefactorium (Warming Room) and the Dormitorium (Dorter) with the old latrines.
The centrally situated Zwettl Cistercian Abbey church has a magnificent west tower 90m/295ft high (by J. Munggenast, 1722-27), built of gray granite, decorated with figures, vases and obelisks of lighter colored stone, and crowned by a gilded figure of Christ. The western part of the nave is also Baroque, but the eastern end and the transepts are Gothic. The choir, originally Romanesque, was remodeled in 1343-1383 in the noblest style of Gothic, and is now a massive hall building with radiating chapels. The Baroque interior is most impressive, with a wood carved Assumption group (1733) on the high altar and a confessional chair surmounted with a scene depicting the Return of the Prodigal Son. The wings of the Late Gothic St Bernard's Altar in the left side aisle have paintings by Jörg Breu the Elder (c. 1500) showing scenes from the saint's life.
The Zwettl Cistercian Abbey Library, in the eastern Konventshof, was rebuilt in 1730-32 by J. Munggenast, with paintings by Paul Troger; it contains over 400 manuscripts, more than 300 valuable incunabula and some 50,000 volumes. This complex also includes a choir school, a grammar school, a modern house of retreat and a small museum.
The Dürnhof, once the abbey dairy, now houses a Medical/Meteorological Museum, with exhibits demonstrating the effects of weather and climate on human organisms. There are also sections explaining allergies and medicinal herbs.
Events for this annual festival are held during the six weekends between mid-June and late August. There are usually six concerts, one held each weekend. The concerts include performances by grand symphonies as well as smaller choral and chamber orchestras. The events are held in the Zwettle Abbey and the Ottenschlag Parish Church.
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Zwettl Cistercian Abbey
