Melk Abbey

More than 1000 years ago, the Babenbergs, the first ruling dynasty of Austria, came to this place. A castle owned by a Bavarian count named Sizzo is first mentioned around 830 and associated with the name Melk. Leopold I, was enfeoffed by the Emperor with a narrow strip along the Danube - roughly between the tributaries Enns and Traisen - in the middle of which was the castle. He conquered it and made it his first main castle. From now on, Melk was inseparably connected with the Babenbergs, who had ruled since 976, as well as with the Marca Orientalis of the Holy Roman Empire, which they ruled. This Marca was called "Ostarrichi" and is the nucleus of today's Austria. In the course of the next hundred years or so, the Melk castle lost its importance, as the Babenbergs extended their domain to the east - Tulln, Klosterneuburg, Vienna. In Melk, however, some of the first Babenbergs were buried and this important burial place of the ruling dynasty was not to be neglected, but to come into spiritual hands. This was probably one of the main reasons why a monastery was founded here.

Melk Abbey, guided tours
Abt-Berthold-Dietmayr-Strasse 1
3390 Melk
Phone +43 2752 555 232
tours@stiftmelk.at