Klosterneuburg Abbey

Klosterneuburg Abbey tickets: which one to buy

Klosterneuburg Abbey stands on a hill above the Danube in the town of Klosterneuburg, just north of Vienna, and it is reached in about fifteen minutes by S-Bahn train from Vienna's Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof or Heiligenstadt, followed by a short walk up the hill. The abbey church is free to enter outside services, while the rest of the complex is shown on tickets: the imperial wing, the treasury with the Archducal Hat of Austria, the museum and the Leopold Chapel with the Verdun Altar.

Guided tours in English run at set times and are the best way to see the Verdun Altar, which is the highlight. The abbey also runs one of the oldest wineries in Austria, with a shop and tastings, and a café in the courtyard. Visitors often combine the abbey with a walk through the Vienna Woods or a cycle along the Danube. The abbey is a working community of Augustinian canons. The abbey's wine shop offers tastings of its Grüner Veltliner and red wines.

Visiting Klosterneuburg Abbey: what to see

Margrave Leopold III of Babenberg founded the abbey in 1114, and according to legend he chose the site where his wife's veil, blown away by the wind, was found years later hanging in an elder bush. Leopold was canonised in 1485 and became the patron saint of Lower Austria and Vienna. The abbey's greatest treasure is the Verdun Altar, made by the goldsmith Nicholas of Verdun and completed in 1181, a set of fifty-one enamelled copper plaques showing scenes from the Old and New Testaments, one of the most important works of medieval goldsmiths' art in Europe. In the eighteenth century, Emperor Charles VI planned to turn the abbey into a vast imperial residence, modelled on the Escorial in Spain, with domes crowned by copies of the imperial crowns;

only part of the plan was built, and one dome carries a copy of the imperial crown and another the Archducal Hat. The treasury holds the original Archducal Hat, used for the homage of Austrian rulers. The church combines a Romanesque structure with a baroque interior. The Leopold Chapel, where the Verdun Altar stands, also holds the tomb of Saint Leopold. The imperial wing's Marble Hall has a ceiling fresco celebrating the House of Habsburg. The abbey's cloister is Gothic and holds medieval stained glass. The treasury displays reliquaries, monstrances and embroidered vestments.

Klosterneuburg Abbey opening hours and the best time to go

The abbey is open daily for tours from spring to autumn, with shorter hours and fewer tours in winter. The feast of Saint Leopold on 15 November brings a large celebration, with the Fasslrutschen, a tradition of sliding down a huge wine barrel in the abbey cellar, said to bring luck. Advent brings a Christmas market in the abbey courtyard. The grape harvest in autumn is a pleasant time for wine tastings. Allow about two hours for a tour including the Verdun Altar and the imperial wing, and taste the abbey's wine before returning to Vienna. The Danube cycle path runs past the foot of the hill and continues into Vienna along the river.