KLOSTER BENEDIKTBEUERN
Tölzer Land Benediktbeuern is a very small town - we would probably describe it as a village - and it is dominated by Kloster Benediktbeuern, a monastery belonging to the Salesians of Don Bosco. It lies in an area some 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Munich, known as Tölzer Land. This centres round the Spa Town of Bad Tölz and it includes two beautiful lakes, the Walchensee and the Kochelsee. It is not far enough south to be in the Alps, but it is a fabulous landscape with mountains and peaceful valleys and lakes, and is very popular as a retreat from city life and as an area ideal for outdoor recreation in lovely surroundings. We stayed at Kloster Benediktbeuern for most of our time in Bavaria, both in 2003 and 2004 and Kochel-am-See ( Kochel on the lake) was only a five minute train ride away, or you can cycle. From here there are wonderful walking trails all around with gorgeous scenery. Benediktbeuern itself is in a wide flat valley with cows peacefully grazing, bounded by hills, with the snow covered Alps visible at some distance.				Benediktbeuern across the fields, with the onion topped towers of the monastery just visible above the trees
		Benediktbeuern seen from the nearby Jochberg. The large white, red roofed buildings at the left are those of Kloster Benediktbeuern and the station is just beyond them. The monastery lies at the western edge of the town.
The History of Kloster Benediktbeuern Kloster Benediktbeuern was originally founded in 739 A.D. It was destroyed by Hungarian marauders in 955 but quickly rebuilt and was a powerful and prestigious spiritual and cultural centre until it was turned over to secular use in 1803. In 1805 an optical laboratory was opened in the grounds. It was here that Joseph von Frauenhofer, the famous physicist (1787-1826), developed optical instruments and discovered the dark lines in the sun’s spectrum known as ‘Frauenhofer lines’. There is a small exhiition on his work in the original workshop. The final chapter in the history of Kloster Benediktbeuern began in 1930, when the Salesians of Don Bosco took over the monastery and made it the flourishing institution it is today. The Salesians are a religious order thought to have been founded in Italy in 1854, which would make them fairly young as religious orders go. However, Pater Norbert Wolff, who looked after us during our first stay at the monastery in 2003, has discovered evidence of the existence of the order much earlier than this, in France. When we were arranging our second visit, in 2004, Pater Wolff was very busy writing up his research in a long article on the history of the order. So church history has just been re-written where the Salesians are concerned. The Salesians of Don Bosco are in any event an extremely open order. They do not wear monks’ habits but dress just like anyone else and engage very fully with the world around them. They run two universities in Munich, for students of Theology and Sociology respectively, as well as other educational centres, an activity centre for the young, and a youth hostel. They also offer accommodation to anyone who wishes to stay at the monastery, whether they are looking for a peaceful retreat or wish to use the monastery as a base for their activities in the area, as we did.
					An arial photograph of Kloster Benediktbeuern. The building with the two towers is the Basilika St. Benedikt. There are further less tall buildings beyond which are not visible. In the background at the left is the Jochberg
	Ground plan of Kloster Benediktbeuern
Guest Accommodation At the Kloster they have two guest houses which offer very reasonably priced accommodation (bed and breakfast with optional lunch and supper). The accommodation is not luxurious but it is very comfortable, with en suite bathrooms and TV in all the rooms in the newer of the two guest houses. Each guest house has a communal room with self service bar. There is a refectory in a separate building with set meal times, and in another of the monastery buildings there is a restaurant run by an independent franchise. This is open most of the time, and you can eat or drink indoors or out. Guests have their own key and can come and go at any hour. There is no gatekeeper, indeed there is no gate. There seem to be a few students about the place but the atmosphere is very tranquil and very relaxed and guests are not much in evidence as they are probably out and about as we were. The photograph on the right shows the part of the monastery with which we were most familiar. A guided tour of the monastery is available to visitors and one of our rehearsals in the magnificent Barocksaal had to be suspended while a party of visitors was introduced to its splendours.
				A view of Kloster Benediktbeuern showing one of the modern guest houses on the left. The other is outside the photograph. The gabled building in the centre houses the dining rooms and kitchens and the towers of the Basilika are on the right. The restaurant is off to the right. The town is behind the viewer, across the railway line.
The Basilika St. Benedikt at Kloster Benediktbeuern				Architecture The style of the monastery buildings is Italian Baroque, on quite a grand scale. The heavily stuccoed Basilika is an excellent example of very early Baroque with ceiling frescoes by Georg Asam, father of the more famous Asam brothers. Of greater artistic interest is the smaller Anastasiekapelle, of which the architect was Johann Michael Fisher. It represents the collaboration of some of the best baroque artists working in Bavaria, with elegant stucco work by Johann Michael Feuchtmayr, ceiling frescoes by Johann Jakob Zeiller, and side altars carved by Ignaz Günther. While some of the rooms in the monastery are more splendid and more elaborately decorated than others, most seem to be of noble proportions and even the corridors, with which we became familiar going to and fro, are fairly grand. The Barocksaal however is one of the more magnificent rooms. Part of what gives the monastery its character of noble grandeur is that it does at the same time have a certain austerity. The display of wealth, in the form of elegant furniture and rich furnishings, which one would normally find in a palatial building of this kind, are notably absent (as one would expect in a monastery). The overall effect is hardly spartan, but it is restrained and calm, even in the more richly decorated rooms, and somehow liberating. This is the whole spirit of the place. It is also immaculately maintained.
Music In the summer a series of classical concerts known as the Benediktbeurer Konzerte are held at the monastery, in the Basilika and in the Barocksaal, which has a more or less passable piano. This is where The Chamber Musicians gave their concert in 2003, to a large and warmly enthusiastic audience which, we were told by Pater Wolff, was international. The concert had been advertised in a fairly wide area around Benediktbeuern. For this and for all the kind hospitality we received we should like to express our gratitude to Pater Heim, the Director of the monastery, and to Pater Wolff, and others who looked after all our needs. We had hoped to give another concert there in 2004, but the Barocksaal was unfortunately in use for a conference the whole week. In the photograph of the Barocksaal opposite the piano can be seen at the far end of the room. For a concert the strong men from the estate are enlisted to lift it onto the platform, which is higher than it looks. Another of Kloster Benediktbeuern’s claims to fame is that it was here that the manuscript of Carmina Burana came to light. The title literally means ‘Songs of Beuern’. The 13^th century manuscript was discovered by accident in 1803, which you will remember was the year in which the monastery became secularised. The songs have been described as ‘the rants of a devoutly hedonistic band of German ‘goliards’ (or defrocked monks, minstrels and wastrels in general)’.... celebrations of eroticism, gluttony, drinking and gambling. The poems have of course been made famous by the composer Carl Orff who set them to music which is original and memorable.				Kloster Benediktbeuern, a first floor corridor
				The Barocksaal, Kloster Benediktbeuern.
				Carl Orff (1895 – 1982) For the early part of his career Carl Orff was primarily a music teacher. He became famous as a composer overnight, when his setting of Carmina Burana, the collection of 13^th century poems discovered at Kloster Benediktbeuern in 1803, was premiered in Frankfurt-am-Main in 1937. He set the poems as a secular cantata, disregarding the music of the original. The work received immediate acclaim and it continues to receive regular performances and to retain its popularity today.
Please click below for: Main website Index Concert listing 2003 - 04 Additional information 2003 -04 (UK)