Mathematischer Turm

Mathematischer Turm, (Mathematics Tower), oldest multi-storey building in Europe. Between 1748 and 1758 the monks of Kremsmünster Abbey (Upper Austria) had this building (50 m in height) erected according to designs by P. Anselm Desing. The rooms on the top level right under the dome were used for astronomical and meteorological studies (observations of meteorological conditions were made from 1763). Today the halls of the building house the monastery´s collections of plants, minerals and stuffed animals, which were rearranged between 1975 and 1976. Portraits of 240 pupils who had attended the "Ritterakademie" (school for children of the nobility, closed in 1789) are to be found on the walls along the staircases.