Nonnberg Abbey

Founded around 714 by Saint Rupert of Salzburg, Nonnberg is the oldest continuously operating nunnery in the German-speaking world. That is thirteen centuries of unbroken Benedictine religious life in the same location, through plagues, wars, fires, Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Napoleon, two world wars, and the complete transformation of the society around it. The first abbess was Saint Erentrudis, either Rupert's niece or sister — the historical record is uncertain, which is understandable given that it's been over 1,300 years.

The current church was consecrated in 1009 by Emperor Henry II, making it the second-oldest Marian church in Salzburg. A devastating fire in 1423 destroyed the church and much of the complex, and the Gothic rebuilding took over thirty years, starting in 1464. Behind the high altar, a stunning late-Gothic winged altarpiece survives, along with fragments of Romanesque frescoes that are among the oldest in Austria. The nuns still sing Gregorian chant every morning at 6:45 — a daily practice that connects the present to the very earliest years of the abbey.

For most of the world, though, Nonnberg is famous for something that happened in the 1920s: a young novice named Maria Kutschera was sent by the abbess to serve as a governess to the seven children of Baron Georg von Trapp. She married the baron, they formed a family singing group, and their story became the basis for The Sound of Music. The scenes of Maria walking to the abbey gates and the nuns singing "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" were filmed here. Visitors still photograph the distinctive iron gateway, imagining Julie Andrews walking through it.

The abbey is an active convent and is only partially open to visitors. The nuns maintain their privacy with characteristic Benedictine calm. You can enter the church but not the cloister, which feels entirely appropriate for a place that has spent thirteen hundred years cultivating silence.