Abbey Museum

Echternach

Echternach Abbey was founded by Saint Willibrord in 698. It was dissolved in 1797. The preserved buildings of the former abbey, nowadays the Lycée classique Echternach, date back to 1727. Part of the vaulted basement has housed the Abbey Museum since 1987.

Exhibitions

The Abbey Museum offers an interesting, brief survey of the history of Echternach: the Roman Villa, facsimiles of the most famous manuscripts created in the local scriptorium, the life and cult of Saint Willibrord, archaeological remains.

Scriptorium

Soon after the foundation of the monastery, a scriptorium was established in Echternach. There, books were written and illuminated to be used in religious services and in the monastic school. The most beautiful of these manuscripts were created in the 8th and 11th centuries.

Codex Aureus Epternacensis

The Codex Aureus Epternacensis was created in the Echternach Scriptorium around 1040 and was meant for domestic use. The cover was donated to the monastery by Empress Theophanu and her son Otto towards the end of the 10th century. Since 1955, the book has been in the possession of the “Germanisches Nationalmuseum” in Nuremberg. Texts pages of the Gospels, all written in gold ink, and numerous illuminations are shown as facsimiles in the Abbey Museum.