The Abbey’s sculptor Josef Stammel (1695 – 1765) created the numerous, elaborate limewood carvings in this magnificent space. Particularly striking are the ‘Four Last Things‘; a group consisting of the oversized figures of Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell. However, these were carved before the library was built and were only subsequently incorporated, providing a stark contrast with the Enlightenment-imbued concept of the architect. Further information to the “Four last things” and to the “Universum” of Josef Stammel.
The library holds some 70,000 volumes while the Abbey in total owns nearly 200,000 books. The most valuable among these are the more than 1,400 manuscripts (the oldest dating to the 8th century AD) and the 530 incunabulae (books printed before 1500).