Der Jakobsweg in der Region Hall- Wattens
Der Jakobsweg in der Region Hall- Wattens
Wandern
Ascent358 mDistance15,2 kmHighest point899 mDuration4:14 h
easy
History of origins of St. Martin
It is said that already in the 11th century, a hunting lodge with a chapel in honour of St. Martin have stood on the site of the present monastery. The building was first mentioned in a document dating from 1337. At about that time a hermitage was founded here, which was inhabited by two hermits.
In the 15th century an Augustinian monastery was established and inhabited by local sisters. Unfortunately a fire broke out in 1520 and the building was partially destroyed. However, all the 30 nuns found refuge in the St. Salvator chaplaincy in Hall and remained there until 1566.
The time during the Peasants’ Wars and the Reformation in the 16th century was a period of unrest. Thus the ruins of St. Martin, whose Gothic windows and buttresses still bear witness to the old building, stood abandoned in the forest for over 100 years. It was only the pastor Christof Wenig from Hall who began to rebuild the ruins and founded a small monastery for like-minded people.
In 1826 the church was renovated and a new high altar with an altarpiece was erected in 1836, presumably the work of the Tyrolean artist Arnold Schöpf. However, the frescoes which depict scenes from the life of Saint Martin were already made by the Tyrolean artist Michael Ignaz Mildorfer in the 18th century. By the way, the monastery is also famous for its Christmas crib which figures are over 80 cm high and date from the 19th century.
In 1935 the religious order of the Tertiary Sisters moved from Hall to Gnadenwald where they run a boarding house for pilgrims. Unfortunately, the room letting was given up in 2019 and the Tertiary Sisters left the convent.
