Göß

Styria, southern district of the town of Leoben (since 1938), oldest monastery in Styria, founded before 1020; under Emperor Heinrich II the first monks came to Göß from the Nonnberg free imperial abbey (then in the Principality of Salzburg). Göß was the only free imperial abbey in Austria; it was dissolved in 1782. 1784-1800 seat of the diocese of Leoben. Collegiate church, (now the: parish church) with crypt from the early Romanesque period (beginning of the 11^th century), nave from the late Gothic period (around 1520), richly ornamented south portal with tracery, altar paintings by M. J. Schmidt (1791); tombstones from the 15^th , 16^th , and 17^th centuries (tombs of abbesses). Early Gothic Saint Michael´s chapel, with frescoes from the same period (saints, scenes from the Bible and the Song of Songs) one of the principal works of the early Gothic Zackenstil. The Gösser vestments are among the most magnificent liturgical robes from the Romanesque period; the silk embroidery and the iconographic designs (scenes from the Bible, saints, founders etc.) are still completely intact. They are exhibited at the MAK (Museum für Angewandte Kunst) in Vienna.- Gösser brewery owned by the Brau Union Österreich AG, museum of the history of brewing, Novopan works, sawmill.

Literature: G. Jontes, Stift Göß, Geschichte und Kunst, 1977.