The former monastery, Kloster Pernegg is situated far in the north of Lower Austria, near the Czech border - in the gneiss upland of the so-called Waldviertel ("wood region") 530 meters above sea level. In spite (or perhaps because) of its removed location, this legendary region was hotly contested for over thousand years, and never escaped the turmoils of the respective era. Small wonder that monasteries and their churches also were well fortified. This sustainable way of building certainly helped architectural jewels such as the Klosterkirche (monastery church) of Pernegg to survive the centuries almost unscathed.
Picture credits Unless otherwise noted, all photographs of Pernegg © Dietz Tinhof & David Ender - VSL
The first documentary evidence of the neighboring settlement Markt Pernegg comes from the year 1112, as a shire it was frequently mentioned from 1120 on. It is highly probable though that a sideline of the Babenbergers resided at castle Pernegg as early as 1075. However, the last heir of the "Pernegg" lineage already died in 1230 as a "fool and dunce", whereafter the property fell to the couny's archduke. The monastery was founded in the second half of the 12th century, and inhabited by Premonstratensian nuns. In 1432 the Hussites ravaged the region. The castle fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1449, only the chapel remained largely whole. The material was used for building the monastery as we know it today. In the beginning of the 16th century, the church was erected at the centre of the monastery complex. Today it serves as parish church. During the reformation era, in 1544 only two nuns lived at Pernegg; in 1585 the nunnery expired, and the monastery was newly inhabited by Augustinian Canons.
Although the monastery was heavily beleaguered during the Thirty-Years War by imperial troops (1619/1620) and Swedes (1645), this was followed by an era of prosperity, accompanied by fruitful scientific efforts.
The images above show a copper plate of the monastery of Pernegg ("Berenegg") by Georg Matthäus Vischer from 1672 (© IMAREAL, ÖAW)
and an excerpt from a mural painting in the sacristy.
In the year 1700 the monastery was raised to the state of an abbey, which however was revoked again in 1783 under emperor Joseph II. The parish of Pernegg was then incorporated in the collegiate church of Geras. In 1854 Geras also attained ownership of the estate of Pernegg when emperor Franz Joseph re-transferred it to the Augustinians.
In 1940, during the Nazi regime both monasteries were seized and used to accommodate resettlers; in the last months of the war Pernegg was heavily damaged. The extensive renovation of the desolate monastery compound began in 1992. A center for recreation and fasting with an adjacent hotel was installed in the premises. Apart from services, the former collegiate church - today the "Pfarrkirche Pernegg" - regularly hosts concerts which make use of its excellent acoustics.
Today Pernegg still looks like a proud and firm castle-church. The walls that surround it with their towers and doors remind one of times in which the borderland monastery was frequently attacked by marauding troops. At the main entrance one still can see the pulleys that were used to draw up the drawbridge.
The church "Zum heiligen Andreas" was built at the end of the 15th century. It is a late gothic pilaster church with a five-sided choir termination. This open-form type of hall church whose hall is uninhibited by pillars is rarely found in this part of Europe - an architectural rarity which strongly influences the building's extraordinary acoustics. Until the first restauration works in the 1960s the common opinion was that the church - apart from its tower and charnel house - had been built around the time of the friary, i.e., after 1586. However, excavations and the uncovering of frescos disproved this: it was certainly built between 1500 and 1520. Therefore it was not an imitation of the old style in an already changed era; on the contrary, at the time of its erection the building had been forward-looking. On the inside there are figural ceiling paintings from the year 1603, and the side chapels contain wall and arch paintings attributed to Johann Grabenberger. Another remarkable thing is the octagonal pulpit from the year 1618.
Medieval churches had free-standing supports; here they consist of inward-drawn buttresses typical for the gallery churches of the renaissance and early baroque eras. However, the galleries are not original and were only built in in 1651.
The collegiate church's other building efforts also date back mainly to the 17th century. The enclosure wall of the prelature court, which on the inside was designed like the façade of an Italian palace, shows imagination and originality. Pilasters, blind windows, attics with vases and busts create the impression that there is a splendid palace behind. The rooms display rich stucco work, especially in the ground floor room with its fireside and in the rosary chapel with its exuberant fresco decoration.
The building's first renovation took place in the 1960s, and it was completely renovated between 1993 and 1999. The baroque high altar from 1780 with its monumental crucifix was complemented by a massive, modern basilican altar by Thomas O. Munz, which has a decisive influence on the nave's appearance. Many of the stained glass windows also bear the mark of contemporary artists: in the sanctuary by Margaret Bilger (1962), in the baptistery by Lydia Roppolt (1969).
Music has always had a significant value in the collegiate church Pernegg. For instance, the organ by Michael Prackh was already installed in 1654, and it is still in use.
The incomparably regular acoustics of the nave - a result of the special building style - have for many years attracted musicians from all kinds of genres far from the obligatory liturgy and choir concerts. When the violinist Julian Rachlin, born in Lithuania and living in Austria since his early youth, gave a charity concert for the monastery church's organ in 2004, he was so impressed by the ambience that he decided to go on performing there with his friends, which he has done every year since 2006. Also in 2004, Karlheinz Essl's piece "Nach viermal geht die Sonne auf" (After four times the sun will rise) had its world premiere as soundtrack for a multimedia performance.
Because of its secluded location, the church also offers an ideal environment for music recording. The absence of disturbing noise not only in the vicinity nowadays is a rare feature, for which many artists and labels gladly put up with the rather circumstantial journey through the dark woods of this old borderland. E.g., the label Hyperion has published a whole series of recordings by the vocal ensemble Cinquecento, all of which were recorded here by Markus Wallner. His opinion: "Because of the very balanced, clearly defined, and never too dominant acoustics, this is my favorite space [...]. A real insider tip (and it may stay that way as far as I'm concerned)!"
For Vienna MIR Pro the nave of the Klosterkirche Pernegg was recorded from four microphone positions: Mic 1 is positioned near the center of the altar, Mic 2 in front of it, Mic 3 in the middle of the nave. Mic 4 was positioned almost on the choir gallery in the back of the nave, at a heigth of approximately 6 meters. All in all, nearly 5,000 IRs were gathered to virtually recreate the acoustics of this building.
The average length of the impulse responses is about 6 seconds, the average reverb time is about 3.8 seconds.
Microphone position 4 (resp. 1) on the first balcony.
Due to its special form, there are actually two possible "stage areas" in the nave. The more conventional one is the perspective facing the altar. The less obvious one faces the choir gallery at the back of the nave, where the wooden stage is often used for choir and ensemble music with or without organ accompaniment.
It is also worth mentioning that there are two balconies in this nave - the lower one with the choir stalls, and the upper one housing the organ. Both have been captured for the use in Vienna MIR Pro.
The possibilities of placing instruments are further aug-mented by two additional HotSpots in the cloisters on the left and right sides of the choir.
Please take a look at the screenshots of the Venue Map to get the idea.
Markus Wallner takes laser-aided measurements from the central altar.
One of the more unusual control rooms...
MIR software architect Martin Rajek solves some architectural riddles of the church.
David Ender and Markus Wallner, setting up the recordings from the choir gallery.
Many thanks to Father Sebastian Kreit from the Parish Pernegg for his generosity and hospitality. We had many wishes and needs, but none of them posed any problem for him. The creation of this MIR Venue would not have been possible without his aid.
And many thanks to Alexander Cevolani from KEYS Magazine Germany for joining us for this MIR recording session!
Sunset @ Klosterkirche Pernegg: Markus Wallner, David Ender, Dietz Tinhof, Martin Waismayr, Martin Rajek
© Alexander Cevolani / PPV Medien
