Propstei Zeiring, Möderbrugg

The Propstei Zeiring is a former monastery complex in Unterzeiring, high above the Pöls valley in Upper Styria. It sits on a plateau north-west of the village, reached by a gentle climb. The site once belonged to Admont Abbey, founded in 1074 by Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg. For centuries it served as the abbey’s local headquarters for managing its estates and farms. The earliest record of the chapel dedicated to Saint Agatha dates from 1160. The buildings tell of repeated rebuilding and reinforcement. After damage in the Turkish raid of 1480, the chapel was restored in 1493 by Abbot Leonhard of Stainach and consecrated in 1495 by Bishop Matthias Scheit of Seckau. In 1496 the monks fled here for twenty-two weeks to escape the plague. Between 1507 and 1527 the whole complex was remodelled by master builders Sigmund, Wolfgang Wunderlich and Ruprecht Nußdorfer. A further Baroque makeover came in the mid-17th century under Abbot Raimund von Rehling. Visitors enter through high curtain walls fitted with arrow slits. Inside, a large rectangular courtyard is framed by two residential wings, service buildings and the chapel set at an angle. The chapel is a simple three-bay hall with a star-vaulted ceiling and a small polygonal choir. Above the choir rises a slender turret. Inside stands a high altar from the 1670s bearing the abbot’s coat of arms, accompanied by two side altars showing scenes of the Apostles’ departure and the Fourteen Holy Helpers.