Seeon Monastery: Place for a Getaway

SPONSORED STORY Late at night, when it is very quiet and you are perhaps still lying in bed with a book in your hand, the walls begin to whisper. They tell of ancient times when Benedictine monks lived and taught behind the monastery walls. A little bashfully, perhaps, the voices recall the decline of the magnificent ensemble after secularisation in 1803, a feudal phase as the castle of the Dukes of Leuchtenberg and dark post-war years as a military hospital, refugee camp and barracks.

Ancient and Modernised in 2021

Host Gerald Schölzel, who has managed the Klosterhotel since 2015, also feels "quite awestruck" again and again in view of the walls steeped in history. Founded in 994 on an island in the Klostersee lake, the Seeon monastery has been rebuilt again and again and has long been connected to the mainland but you can still feel the centuries. Even the comprehensive modernisation of all 92 rooms in 2021 does not change this.

The former monks' cells, many of them around 20 square metres in size with an anteroom and comfortable bathroom, respectfully continue to write history with beautiful oak floors, sleek and elegant furnishings and specially made lamps. Four more, larger rooms as well as a conference room under an old vault are housed in the adjoining Kramerhaus.

Monastery Tranquillity Away from the Hustle and Bustle

Tip: The approximately 40-minute walk around the Klostersee lake

"It was important to us that nothing distracts from the wonderful building fabric and the modern monastic feeling," says Gerald Schölzel. After all, the guests should find real peace and relaxation here, only six kilometres away from the tourist hustle and bustle of Lake Chiemsee.

The well-travelled hotel manager, who previously worked in Puerto Rico, the USA and for many years in Lufthansa's conference hotel business, also appreciates this. “When I have a moment, I like to sit on the jetty by the lake and look out over the water and the waves, it's very relaxing.”

Equally soothing is the short tour around the monastery grounds or the approximately 40-minute walk around the Klostersee lake, both of which are wheelchair accessible. The monastery church of St. Lambert with its moving Renaissance frescoes and the medieval cloister are also accessible to everyone by lift.

Of course, you can also jump into the water of the monastery lake which is already pleasantly warm early in the year. "The Alzbad directly on the river in nearby Truchtlaching is also wonderful," recommends the host, "it's almost still an insider tip."

Sun-Downer on the Lakeside Terrace

In Seebruck you can rent bicycles and SUP boards, and the two golf courses in Chieming and Obing are partner businesses of the Klosterhotel. After the sporting excursion, you can sit wonderfully on the lakeside terrace or in the Kastanienhof and enjoy regional delicacies from the clear, creative menu. Chiemsee fish is of course almost always on the menu.

The monastery restaurant in an imposing vaulted cellar is also open to everyone. The new restaurant "Ex libris" under the coffered ceiling of the former library, on the other hand, is only open to hotel guests.

Breakfast with the hotel's own bee honey is also served in the monks' former retreat. As early as the 10th century, the Benedictines ran an important school of writing, whose works found their way into many other monasteries, princely courts and royal houses.

So it is only fitting that the district of Upper Bavaria, which bought the monastery complex at the end of the 1980s and renovated it from the ground up, focused on seminar and conference facilities from the very beginning. As a specialist in this field, Gerald Schölzel is continuously developing the programme.

Concerts, Readings and Courses

In addition to events for companies, associations and private groups, around sixty cultural events take place each year for a broad audience, from concerts to readings to exhibitions and, in keeping with tradition, calligraphy courses.

Mozart spent some time here in his younger years

More recent than the medieval monks' art of writing is another pride of Seeon Monastery. Mozart spent some time here in his younger years between 1767 and 1769 and also composed two sacred works for the monastery. The genius, who died young, is remembered every year with a top-class Mozart Week.

Memories of the young Mozart can of course also be found in the newly designed monastery shop, as well as "witty" gifts of all kinds. Carefully selected reading material is also on offer. This allows you to always have a good book at hand to relax at an idyllic spot by the monastery lake or to read a little before falling asleep in the whispering silence of the ancient monastery walls.