Florian was a Christian holy man and the patron saint of chimney sweeps; soapmakers, and firefighters. His feast day is 4 May. Florian is also the patron saint of Poland, the city of Linz, Austria, and Upper Austria, jointly with Leopold III, Margrave of Austria.
Leopold II, known as Leopold the Fair, a member of the House of Babenberg, was Margrave of Austria from 1075 until his death. A supporter of the Gregorian Reforms, he was one of the main opponents of the German king Henry IV during the Investiture Controversy.
Dürnstein is a small town on the Danube river in the Krems-Land district, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is one of the most-visited tourist destinations in the Wachau region and also a well-known wine growing area. The municipality consists of the Katastralgemeinden of Dürnstein, Oberloiben, and Unterloiben.
Klosterneuburg, frequently abbreviated to Kloburg by locals, is a town in the Tulln District of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It has a population of about 27,500. The Stift Klosterneuburg, which was established in 1114 and soon after given to the Augustinians, is of particular historical importance.
Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by a partly similar terminology.
Göttweig Abbey is a Benedictine monastery near Krems in Lower Austria. It was founded in 1083 by Altmann, Bishop of Passau.
Austrian wines are mostly dry white wines, though some sweeter white wines are also produced. About 30% of the wines are red, made from Blaufränkisch, Pinot noir and locally bred varieties such as Zweigelt. Four thousand years of winemaking history counted for little after the "antifreeze scandal" of 1985, when it was revealed that some wine brokers had been adulterating their wines with diethylene glycol. The scandal destroyed the market for Austrian wine and compelled Austria to tackle low standards of bulk wine production, and reposition itself as a producer of quality wines. The country is also home to Riedel, makers of some of the most expensive wine glasses in the world. Some of the best producers of Austria include Weingut Bründlmayer, Weingut F.X. Pichler and Weingut Franz Hirtzberger, Weingut Hutter, Weingut Eigl and Wellanschitz.
Friedrich (Fritz) Zweigelt was an Austrian entomologist and phytologist. Zweigelt was one of the most influential and internationally renowned figures in Austrian vine growing between 1921 and 1945. He was Head of State Vine Cultivation during the period of the First Austrian Republic and also acted as Director of the School of Viticulture and Horticulture in Klosterneuburg near Vienna. The grape variety "Blauer Zweigelt" is named after him. Blauer Zweigelt is grown across an area of some 6,400 hectares in Austria, making it by far the most significant red wine grape cultivated in the country. Zweigelt's National Socialist sympathies and activities did not come to the attention of the public for some decades.
Pfaffen-Schwabenheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Bad Kreuznach, whose seat is in the like-named town, although this lies outside the Verbandsgemeinde. Pfaffen-Schwabenheim is a winegrowing village.
St. Florian Monastery is an Augustinian monastery in the town of Sankt Florian, Austria. Founded in the early ninth century, and later refounded by Augustinians in the eleventh century, St. Florian is the largest monastery in Upper Austria, and rivals Melk Abbey and Klosterneuburg Monastery as among the most impressive examples of Baroque architecture in Austria. The monastery is dedicated to Saint Florian, whose fourth century grave lies beneath the monastery.
Herzogenburg Monastery is an Augustinian monastery located in Herzogenburg in Lower Austria. Founded in 1112 by Augustinian Canons, the monastery was refurbished in the Baroque style in 1714 by Jakob Prandtauer, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, and Josef Munggenast.
Domaene Lilienfeld - Lilienfelderhof - is one of the oldest wine estates in Central Europe. Situated in Pfaffstätten, 30 km south of Vienna, Austria, it traces its history to an endowment made by the Babenberger Leopold VI, Duke of Austria to the Cistercian monks at Lilienfeld Abbey in 1202, though the buildings as such are traditionally dated to 1209. In 2006 Domaene Lilienfeld (Lilienfelderhof) was acquired by the Hildebrand Private Foundation, on the basis of a 99-year leasehold (Baurecht). The foundation is currently in the process of restoring and revitalising both the numerous buildings and 20 hectares of vineyards.
Schloss Gobelsburg is a winery and castle in the Kamptal wine growing region in Lower Austria, some 50 miles to the north west of Vienna. The estate produces both red and white wines. Wine production on the estate dates to 1171; it is the oldest winery in the Danube region. The structure is a listed building.
The Wachau is an Austrian valley with a picturesque landscape formed by the Danube river. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations of Lower Austria, located midway between the towns of Melk and Krems that also attracts "connoisseurs and epicureans" for its high-quality wines. It is 36 kilometres (22 mi) in length and was already settled in prehistoric times. A well-known place and tourist attraction is Dürnstein, where King Richard I of England was held captive by Leopold V, Duke of Austria. The architectural elegance of its ancient monasteries, castles and ruins combined with the urban architecture of its towns and villages, and the cultivation of vines as an important agricultural produce are the dominant features of the valley.
Wachau is one of Austria's most established and notable wine regions, specializing in dry wines made from Riesling and Grüner Veltliner. Located in Lower Austria along the Danube, west of Vienna and Krems an der Donau, it is one of the westernmost wine producing regions in Austria with only a few scattered plantings in Tyrol being further west. While most of Austria follows a wine classification systems based on ripeness and harvest must weight that parallels the German wine classification system, Wachau wines have a unique classification system. The three classification levels for Wachau wine include Steinfeder for wines up to 11.5% alcohol level, Federspiel for wines between 11.5–12.5% and Smaragd that must have a minimum of 12.5% alcohol level. Despite its renown, the Wachau is a small wine region that usually accounts for only around 3% of Austria's wine production.
Reichersberg Abbey is a monastery of the Innviertel Congregation of the Austrian Augustinian Canons. It lies on the Inn River in Reichersberg, Upper Austria.
Gars Abbey is a monastery on the Inn River in Bavaria, Germany, in the town of Gars am Inn. It was founded in 768 and has been occupied by Benedictine monks, Augustinian Canons Regular, and most recently Redemptorists.
The Abbey of St. Märgen is a former Augustinian canons monastery in St. Märgen in the Black Forest in Germany, which was founded around 1118 under the name Cella Sanctae Mariae. The German form of the name, Maria-Zell, changed over the centuries through Marienzell, Sante Merien and St. Mergen to the present name of the abbey and village, St. Märgen. The Baroque abbey church of St. Mary of the Assumption is today the Roman Catholic parish church of St. Märgen and one of the most important Marian pilgrimage churches in the Archdiocese of Freiburg.
Altmann was the Bishop of Passau from 1065 until his death. He was an important representative of the Gregorian reforms, monastic founder and reformer. He is venerated as a saint, but not officially canonised.
