Overlooking Austria's remarkable Wachau Valley is the gracious Gottweig Abbey.

Built on land donated by Passau's Bishop Altmann, this stunning Baroque Monastery complex inspired by Spain's escorial is actually the third version with fires destroying most of the monastery in 1580, and again in 1718.

The monastery is 900 years old.

Gottweig is a very special place with a great history.

It is a spiritual place.

A place for freedom a place for peace.

It is a place where the people come together and they go away with much power in the heart.

Gottweig is a Benedictine Monastery, an order, founded by Saint Benedict of Nursia, a 6th Century monk, who established the Abbey of Montecassino on a hilltop southeast of Rome around 529 A.D.

An astute and critical scholar of religious practices.

St.

Benedict clarified the way European monasteries are organized, how monks should live and work, and what the focus of their religious life should be.

His thoughts evolved into the book, the rule of Saint Benedict, a guide for balancing prayer, reading, and work, ora, lege et labora in Latin.

Ora - pray.

Labora -work and lege means to read.

St.

Benedict ordered every monk of his monastery must learn to read, to write.

Everybody should read the gospel for himself.

In the daily life of the monks util now, every monk... there is a time reserved to read.

And I understand also during meals, you have silent meals, but there is a reader.

Yes.

The reader has the possibility to eat afterwards.

We read during the lunch and in the in the in the suppers and in the evening both.

And I noticed in your private quarters, you have a special reading chair.

I like to sit there reading.

It makes the view wide and large.

From the beginning, Gottweig has operated differently than most Benedictine monasteries.

We're not so contemplative in our life like other benedictines.

For example, the French monasteries are all contemplative.

They do not go outside.

Gottweig always focused on outreach, which was a blessing when Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II began his massive reforms.

Monasteries, which have been contemplative, Joseph II says that is not necessary.

We need parish priests, we need monks and sisters in the hospitals.

We need monks and sisters in the schools.

All others you can forget.

He dissolved 700 monasteries, but Gottweig survived.

Today, Gottweig continues to focus on the world beyond the monastery walls.

We care for many parishes - 35 at the moment.

We take care for schools.

You are teaching...

Teaching...Yes. philosophy.

And we have some in the hospitals.

We have a house for retreats and a house for young people.

I understand you've also gotten involved with the immigration situation.

Yes, that's nothing new for us.

Every crisis - if it has been Poland, if it has been Croatia, we have always had refugees in our monastery and at the moment, it's families of Syria.

We tried to help support as possible.

While Gottweig is headed by Abbott Columban, I was surprised to learn he has a cabinet of sorts and that all the monks have a voice in leadership and the direction of the monastery.

Elected by the brothers, and then there is the second man on my side is the prior, then the third man is the sub prior.

And then are the monks.

They are five persons and if there is a problem in the monastery, I call these five, "Come and we have a discussion how to solve." So, every vote for every layer counts equally?

It's equal.

Yes.

It is a democratic system which reached back to the sixth Century of Saint Benedict.

It's no creation of our time, but it's very, very modern.

To fund Gottweig's many parishes and support programs, the monasteries extensive lands are put to work with more than 13,000 acres of woodlands being selectively harvested to ensure this treasured forest endures the test of time.

The slopes around Gottweig are also used to produce the grapes that create the wines for which Wachau is famous.

Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as well as wines used in Holy, Mass.

And then there's the Marillen, another Wachau favorite.

It's also grown under the watchful eye of Gottweig monks in partnership with nearby orchards and right on the monastery grounds.

That's very nice.

Transformed into, tasty juices, jams and even Schnaps, Ultimately the Marillen is yet another way for Gottweig to continue and enhance its community outreach.

Though.

Gottweig has survived nearly ten centuries ,serving amid the distractions of the modern world has perhaps never been more daunting, requiring absolute focus from every monk.

I think the rule of St.

Benedict will help the monk to be a man who has a good disposition to heaven, but also good disposition to the earth.

It is important that the monk lives, his vocation not only in the monastery but also outside the monastery.

I think everybody can be happy in his life.

If I'm in a family or if I alone, if I'm a monk in a monastery, it is important that I live.

That what I see that is my vocation.

At Gottweig, I experienced calmness, a sense of peace, and moments of spontaneous joy.

It wasn't the world I'd imagined but rather one rich in history, and spirit shared by some of the friendliest people I've met.

We are delighted to welcome Viking guests to Gottweig Abbey.

Gottweig Abbey opens the door to an intriguing world that I found fascinating.

I hope you two will have the chance to explore its many treasures.