Just outside the town of Mount Angel in Marion County, the Mount Angel Abbey is a rural monastery, seminary, brewery, guesthouse, and cultural hub for the area. Founded in 1882, the name Mount Angel is a translation of Engleberg, the home Abbey in Switzerland for the Benedictines that founded it.
History of Mount Angel Abbey
Father Adehelm Odermatt, one of the founders of the Oregon Abbey, wanted a mountainous location that would remind them of Switzerland, unlike the great plains of the Midwest, where many of the Benedictine monks had been before. When they arrived in 1882, the Benedictine monks worked hard to establish the Abbey. Initially, the site was called Mount Angel Priory, a preliminary step toward becoming an Abbey. In 1887, they opened a college and in 1888, the Benedictine Press. The Archbishop of Oregon was a great supporter and urged them to keep expanding, this time to create a seminary. It was the second seminary on the West Coast, and is now the oldest seminary west of the Rocky Mountains.
In 1892, disaster struck in the form of a fire that destroyed all of the buildings at Mount Angel Priory. The monks successfully fundraised to rebuild, and they began moving back in at Christmas in 1903. In 1904, the Priory was elevated to an Abbey, and monks began arriving from Switzerland to join the community. Mount Angel College educated many local young men during the twentieth century, most of them not Swiss or German, bringing more Americans into the life of the Swiss-German Abbey. The College closed in 1946 to focus more fully on the seminary. In 1959, the Benedictines completed Benet Hall, a guest and retreat house that enabled them to welcome guests from around the world.
The Mount Angel Library
The Mount Angel Library is of enormous architectural importance. Designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aälto, the library is one of only two buildings in the United States built from Aälto’s designs. The other is Lincoln Center in New York, a modernist icon of the city’s architecture. Aälto is considered one of the greatest architects of the twentieth century, and he was so taken by the site of the proposed library and loved libraries themselves that he was willing to work for far below his typical fee.
The modernist library opened in 1970 with a performance by another twentieth-century icon, jazz pianist Duke Ellington. In addition to the building design, Mount Angel Abbey also holds an important collection of Aälto furniture in the library. Most of the furniture throughout the library is designed by Aälto, from the light fixtures and chairs to the shelving and cabinets.
Visiting the Monastery
Visitors are welcome to come and explore the grounds of Mount Angel Abbey, or even stay at the guest house. As they write, “People of all faiths are welcome to come, seek peace, take time for prayer, and make space for quiet reflection.” Visitors are welcome to come individually or to get a group together for a larger retreat. All guests are welcome to join the monks in their daily prayers in the Abbey Church.
Brewery at Mount Angel Abbey
Mount Angel Abbey is one of the very few monastic breweries in the United States, Benedictine Brewery. The beer is blessed at every stage, from the harvesting to the final touches. Their motto is “Taste and Believe.” The hops are grown on Abbey land, and the wood for the brewery was harvested from the Abbey tree farm. The monks run the facilities, and even the head brewer is a current monk at the Abbey…