Stiftsgymnasium Melk

Stiftsgymnasium Melk stands inside Melk Abbey in the Wachau valley of Lower Austria. The school occupies part of the great Baroque monastery founded by Benedictine monks in the 12th century. It is one of the oldest continuously operating schools in Austria, with records dating back to around 1140. The school’s history reflects wider European events. In the 15th century it gained fame when a monk wrote a teaching book for a six-year-old king. Later, after the Reformation reduced numbers, Jesuit students helped restore standards. Empress Maria Theresa’s reforms in 1781 made it a public school, though it briefly moved to Sankt Pölten before returning in 1804. By 1851 the first Matura exams took place, and in 1967 girls were admitted for the first time. Visitors see the monastery’s grand library and the school’s classrooms where generations studied. The boarding house, opened in 1811, still houses pupils. The alumni include composers, architects, cardinals and a mathematician who lived past 110. The Wachau valley’s vineyards and Danube views surround the abbey, linking past learning with present beauty.