Monastery fasting in the Pallottiner Schlössl in Salzburg

Monastery fasting Austria in the Pallottiner Schlössl in Salzburg

(Advertisement) The Pallottiner Schlössl in Salzburg is a real insider tip. We are here to find out more about monastic fasting in Austria. Fasting in the monastery with the Pallottines means experiencing nature and the city from an extraordinary perspective. The Pallottine monastery is located on the Mönchsberg. It can be reached via the serpentines of Mönchsberg Straße. As you drive up, you have views of the districts to the north and south-east of the city. The path leads to increasingly remote regions on the Mönchsberg. Even though we are here in the middle of the City of Salzburg it looks as if we are out in the wild somewhere in the mountains. The elevator to the Mönchsberg and the Museum der Moderne is only a twenty-minute walk away.

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Apparently, the regular guests at the Pallottiner Schlössl also know this. Not everyone wants to fast in the monastery. Many of them have been coming to the monks for years to slow down in the quiet of the monastery. Others use the monks' guest house as a place to stay during the festival season. Or they attend seminars that take place in the monastery. This is about to change. In the future, monastery fasting should become one of the main pillars of the monastery. This is what this place is for. Due to its location in nature, you can go hiking in the vicinity of the city or on the Mönchsberg during your fasting stay. You never have the feeling that you are in one of the big cities of Austria. If you are looking for ideas, you will find great suggestions for at Sabrina von Couchflucht Hikes on Salzburg's local mountains.

View from the roof terrace of the Pallottiner Schlössl — View from the roof terrace of the Palottiner Schlössl

Monastery fasting in the monastery of the Pallottines

On the contrary. When we climb up to the roof terrace of the monastery, we can see the district below the Mönchsberg. The immediate vicinity of the Johannes Schlössl, however, is surrounded by pastures, forests and meadows. A natural idyll that couldn't be more beautiful. From here you can hike down to Castle Leopoldskron. The fasting guests go on hikes to Maria Plain im Salzburg country. None of the hikes take longer than two hours. From some hiking destinations, buses bring the fasting guests back to the Pallottiner Schlössl.

What you need for hiking

Good walking boots are required so that you can enjoy your tours.
A light backpack is practical because you can take a jacket and a bottle of water with you.
A sun hat protects on the go, because you will be out in the sun a lot.
Hikers are happy to receive these gifts

We do not take part in the monastery fast. Hence we come to the Indulgence the monastery kitchen. This serves meals with lots of fruits and vegetables. Lunch is grilled. However, one should not expect gourmet food. "This is what guests get in the old town of Salzburg," says director Ulrich Walder.

Teas and drinks for monastery fasting - every fasting participant can help themselves here

The fasting guests do not eat on the palace terrace or in the restaurant. They receive their meals in a room that is reserved for them. Otherwise, the temptation to break the fast would likely be too great. Who can resist when plates of grilled food are served on the next table while you are sitting in front of a simple vegetable stock yourself. Depending on which fasting method you book, the fasting guests receive water, tea or vegetable broth during their stay. You can fast according to different methods: base fasting, fasting according to Dr. Buchinger, intermittent fasting and fasting with medical supervision.

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Fasting in the monastery with the Pallottines - relaxing in the castle park while fasting the monastery — Fasting in the monastery with the Pallottines also means relaxing in the palace gardens while fasting in the monastery in Austria

What belongs to monastery fasting

Exercise plays a major role in monastic fasting. This begins in the morning with a morning exercise. After breakfast tea, the group sets off on a two-hour hike into the surrounding area. After their lunch, the participants relax - with a siesta, a liver compress or simply in the castle park. You can relax in the quiet of the park.

If you want, you can also talk to the monks. We had never heard of this community before our visit to the Johannes Schlössl. Rector Father Rüdiger Kiefer tells us what this group is all about. The Roman priest Vincent Pallotti founded the community in 1834. Rector Kiefer insisted that the Pallottines are not an order. They don't take a vow. Instead, they make six pledges to the community by which they bind themselves to them.

In the castle park - a place to relax while fasting in the monastery

Meeting the monks during the monastery fast

The aim of the priests is to live an apostolic popular mission. They do this in discussions with people, in which they also include current developments. P. Kiefer demonstrated this impressively at a mobile phone service in the castle park. It had nothing to do with a fair. Rather, it is a meditative get-together in which he puts the positive aspects of communication via mobile phone at the center of his considerations.

However, a conversation can also take place in a relaxed atmosphere. We meet the oldest member of the community. P. Buettner. He is 87 years old. He taught math to children all his life. He tells us funny stories from his time as a teacher and how he himself learned to teach children something. “We took a quarter of an hour off from each lesson to tell jokes. They just had to be good, ”he smiles mischievously.

He tells how he went from being a student at a Pallottine school in Franconia to becoming a member of the community. However, he came to his job as a primary school teacher by chance. However, he never studied mathematics. Instead, the principal of his school asked him during a visit whether he could teach arithmetic to elementary school students. “I said yes quite cheekily,” he laughs. “That’s how my career as a teacher began.” He taught himself how to teach. What was particularly important to him was to take away the children's fear of failure. “It happened sometimes that we simply skipped class and played football instead. Simply because the weather was nice.”

Monastery fasting also means talking to the monks

In his native Franconia he now only goes on vacation, for example when he visits his sister. Before he finished his time as a teacher, he was in various Pallottine monasteries in German-speaking countries. He talks about his time in Aschaffenburg and visits to Limburg an der Lahn. He has been at the Pallottiner Schlössl in Salzburg for a few years. “I want to stay here until I have to go to a retirement home.” The Pallottines run two of them in German-speaking countries.

He takes part in the monastery fasting in Austria by being available for discussions. However, he is not bound to the strict fasting regulations of the fasting guests. Like us, he enjoys the grilled plate with salads served on the castle terrace.

Our stay at the Pallottine Schlössl also shows us a group of monks who are facing the world. They are all about adapting to modern times. We experienced this impressively during our visit.

Information about monastic fasting

If you want to take part in Monastery Fasting Austria yourself, you can find dates online to fast in the monastery. Here are further information.

You can find the Pallottiner Schlössl here:

Moenchsberg 24
5020 Salzburg
Austria
email: office-salzburg@pallottiner.at
Tel. + 43 (662) 84 65 43 0

Travel Arrangements:

Parking at the airport

You can book your parking space at the airport here.

Arrival by plane, train and bus

Compare and book flights here* (Advertisement). Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines as well as other airlines fly to Salzburg. It is possible to travel to Salzburg by train. Long-distance buses also go to Salzburg.