Stift St. Paul

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  Stift St. Paul Highlights at the destination BOOKS, CODES AND SPELLS

  

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  BOOKS, CODES AND SPELLS

  Man believes he knows the secrets of the earth and yet is amazed when he reaches its limits. Much remains in the dark and some of the things that brilliant minds thought up are no longer known today and lie dormant in forgotten writings of past centuries. Many puzzles contain ingenious codes, the decryption of which is still a mystery. Many discoveries have remained secret because they were never published or because fear of persecution prevented their disclosure. Magic spells, divinations and prophecies create just as much excitement as well-kept medical recipes or hidden knowledge about natural phenomena. Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose" comes to life when the visitor immerses himself in the experience of secret books that made history but also contain many miracles. Obscure characters and elaborate rituals describe exciting things behind closed doors and in hidden rooms. Alchemists tried their hand at the art of making gold and secret societies conjured up the constellations of the planets to attain eternal life. The Da Vinci Code has not been cracked today, nor has the message of mysterious calendars and ritualized verses that are supposed to make the impossible possible on certain days of the year. The knowledge of lost cultures is reflected in the decipherment of ancient writings and creates new perspectives. The journey into the world of books not only becomes an adventure in your head, but also brings lost things back to life. In it, the spirits of countless generations are awakened and allow the present to share in the knowledge of the past.
  Exhibition period: 1 May to 31 October 2023
  

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  Stift St. Paul Highlights at the destination WORD SPECTRUM

  

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  WORD SPECTRUM

  Letters can leave you speechless.
  The art of putting words into compositions whose vibrations are touching is a talent that many language virtuosos were born with. Little by little, letters were compiled into text scores that made words sound. Two gifted Carinthian authors, who couldn't be more different, come face to face and tell each other about their lives. The stories become great literature and move, polarize, create thoughtfulness, recognition and rejection. They were contemporaries – Gertrude Schmirger (1900-1975), alias Gerhart Ellert and Christine Lavant (1915-1973) – and yet they had little in common except their love of books and the fact that they both lived in the Lavant Valley. Major and minor would probably be the name given to the spectrum of sounds that characterize the worlds of the two word artists – the one who devoted herself to historical novels and brought to life personalities who were clinging to the dust of history, and the other who immersed her thoughts in melancholic mists to give them a mysterious glow that still sounds like a distant symphony between the lines of her poems today. Both have remained unforgettable and continue to inspire today’s zeitgeist. The exhibition is dedicated to the life stories of the great daughters of Carinthia and describes their struggle for words in order to capture thoughts in such a way that they are fit for eternity. Poetry and prose initially conflict with each other, but finally unite and sing a hymn of praise to their creators, who have become role models for the present.
  Exhibition period: 26 May to 31 October 2023