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 Goess from the Nonnberg free imperial abbey (then in the Principality of Salzburg). Goess 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 11th 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 15th , 16th , and 17th 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 Goesser 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 fuer Angewandte Kunst) in Vienna.- Goesser brewery owned by the Brau Union Oesterreich AG, museum of the history of brewing, Novopan works, sawmill.

Literature#