Engelberg Magazin Nr. 25

In der Stiftsbibliothek werden Bücher aus neun Jahrhunder- ten sorgfältig aufbewahrt. The Abbey library is home to books from nine centuries.

Lichtdurchfluteter Korridor im Gästetrakt vom Kloster Engelberg.

A sunny corridor in Engel- berg Abbey’s guest wing

2020 is a special year for Engelberg: the Abbey and our community are celebrating their 900th anniversary! Throughout the year there will be events in the village and elsewhere to mark the jubilee. “Study the past if you would define the future” – those words will resonate through- out Engelberg in 2020 as we look back at our Abbey’s 900-year histor y. And it’s not just the Abbey that star ted out all those years ago: its founding brought life to this once quiet and lonely high Alpine valley. Legend has it that the valley has only been called “Engelberg” since that time. Apparently, the Ab- be a year of encounters. Twelve municipalities whose histories are closely entwined with that of the Abbey have been selected to par ticipate in special projects. Those communities will come to Engelberg, and Engelbergers will go to visit them. Together, they will reforge old links. One of the municipalities is Stallikon, the home of the Abbey’s founder Konrad von Sellenbüren. Another is Küsnacht on Lake Zurich. Today, the Zehntentrotte press-house is used by rowing club Seeclub Küsnacht, but it was actually built by Engelberg Abbey back in the 13th centur y. And a building right by the lake that is now a retirement home was once the residence of the Abbey’s steward. On 11 July 2020, the people of Kerns will visit Engelberg, hiking from Melchtal Abbey via the Storegg Pass. The people of Stans will also pay us a visit. For centuries, Stans was obliged to deliver a tenth of its fruit and vegetable har vest to Engelberg – but it has not done so since the star t of the 20th centur y. In September 2020 sumpters will revive the bey’s founders heard a choir of angels calling down from the Hahnen mountain. The jubilee year will

old custom for one year. Swiss National Day will be celebrated on 1 August as ever, and on 2 August, which is a Sunday, Engelberg’s clubs and associations will host stands af ter the celebrator y mass in the Abbey church. This is a time when many Engelbergers who have gone out into the world return home to join in the National Day festivities on Dor fstrasse. It has been almost 200 years since the saying was coined in Engelberg that “ life under the Abbot’s staf f is a good life”, but that men- tality has persisted to this day. Over the past

900 years, Engelberg Abbey has made significant con- tributions to the economic development of the village and the valley, also assisting in the growth of tourism here. When you’ve been

The Abbey’s 900-year jubilee will be celebrated all year with special events in Engelberg and elsewhere.

around for 900 years, you have plenty of sto- ries to tell. Engelberg’s Tal Museum is hosting two special exhibitions, one about angels and one about fire, and the Abbey’s own museum will be showing manuscripts from the early days of the monastic school and scriptorium, founded by Abbot Frowin in 1147. This is the first time these manuscripts have gone on display anywhere but the Abbey’s librar y. The exhibition will be complemented by angel- themed ar tworks by Brother Xaver Ruckstuhl, Brother Columban Louis, Father Karl Stadler and Father Eugen Bollin. The Winkelriedhaus in Stans will explore Engelberg’s American connections, and the historical museum in Sarnen will display exhibits documenting the time 400 years ago when Engelberg’s nuns lef t the Abbey and moved to the nun- ner y in Sarnen. There will also be a series of concer ts in various locations throughout Engelberg – with music chosen from Engel- berg Abbey’s well-stocked music librar y.

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kultur | arts+culture

kultur | arts+culture