Eberndorf Abbey

The Entire Complex

Eberndorf Monastery is a considerably large, irregularly grouped building complex on a gentle hill, with its main facades facing west and south. The eastern side consists mainly of agricultural buildings, the northern side borders a forest area and is accordingly less representative.

Gatehouse and Access Road

The gatehouse is located at the southwestern corner of the building complex and faces south. The building is two-story with a hip roof and, like the adjoining building to the east, is part of the medieval fortification. The gatehouse was slightly altered in the 17th century. The portal has a banded frame and a broken pediment, above which is an inscription with the date of 1634, and above that a medallion with a Christogram. The access road is flanked on both sides by crenellated walls. An external gate in the outer enclosing wall is documented but no longer exists. The walled access road was thus originally the connection between the two gates.

Forecourt

In the forecourt of the monastery, bounded by walls to the west and east, there is a freestanding church tower. On the north side, the former monastery church and the south wing of the baroque monastery complex, extended to the west, adjoin.

Baroque Monastery Building

The complex consists of four wings arranged around a large, almost square courtyard. Around 1634, the building, partly following the layout of the older complex, was erected almost in its present appearance. The north and west wings, in particular, are oriented towards the predecessor building. Peter Franz Carlone is named as the builder. The elevated position on the terrain rising to the east gives the three-story west facade a monumental effect. The projecting round tower at the northwestern corner is reminiscent of a fortified residence, but belongs to the medieval defensive complex; further functions of the tower are neither clarified nor documented. The setback of the connection between the south and west wings creates several corners at the southwestern end of the complex. In the monastery courtyard, there are three-story pillar arcades, and the arcaded corridors have groin vaults. The cloister, formerly located north of the church, disappeared with the construction work in the 17th century. From 1992 to 1995, the arcaded corridors were partially glazed, the exterior facade was renovated, and the reconstruction of the early baroque architectural polychromy was carried out. During this process, three stucco ceilings were uncovered and repainted in their original color.

Since 1378, the Romanesque monastery church of Maria Himmelfahrt was replaced in two stages by a Gothic building, and the choir with crypt was erected. The five-bay, late Gothic nave was added in 1506, and in 1995, a comprehensive exterior restoration took place. Remains of the Romanesque building, such as the burial chapel of the Ungnad family with a Romanesque window, are found primarily on the south side of the single-nave church building. The spatial impression is primarily determined by a twelve-step staircase, ascending in the fourth bay to the fifth, connecting it as a kind of pre-choir with the presbytery. Beneath this fifth nave bay and the choir, a three-aisled crypt, built around 1378, extends. As a rule, the construction of crypts as burial places for relics ends with the Romanesque period, which is why this complex, built at the end of the 14th century, represents a retarding stylistic element. The net vaulting from 1506, however, is one of the first in Carinthia and served as a model for further developments.