Kremsmünster

Geschichte

Kremsmünster is a town in Kirchdorf an der Krems District, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Settled in 777, it is home to the Kremsmünster Abbey.The Abbey was founded 777 by Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and is one of the oldest abbeys of central Europe. On a striking ice-age terrace above the town, it dominates the whole Krems valley. The monks (Order of Saint Benedict), lead a famous gymnasium which has existed since 1549, and an astronomical and geophysical observatory ("Mathematical tower").Science and cultureKremsmünster is a traditional place of culture, astronomy and natural science. For instance, Placidus Fixlmillner (1721–1791) was the first astronomer to compute the orbit of Uranus.The observation tower itself (built 1749–1756) represents the first high-rise of Europe. In this vicinity the eldest geomagnetism station of the world was established, and also the first weather station of Austria-Hungary.The nearby Gusterberg (450 m) is the fundamental point of the former national survey of Upper Austria. An observation tower at the summit marks the geoscientific importance of the mountain. It is also crossed by the Meridian arc Großenhain-Kremsmünster-Pola, an 800 km triangulation which was measured in the 19th century to determine the alpine curvature of the geoid.