St. Lambrecht's Abbey (Stift St. Lambrecht) is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Sankt Lambrecht in the Styrian Grebenzen nature reserve in Austria. The monastery is located 1,072 meters above sea level.

Locally the two churches within the monastic grounds are called the Grosskirche ("big church", also known as the Stiftskirche or monastic church) and the Kleinkirche ("little church", also known from its dedication as the Peterskirche or St. Peter's church). During restoration work of the Grosskirche in the early 1970s extraordinary frescoes dating from the latter half of the 15th century were discovered on the north wall. These show the throne of Solomon. On the lowest level is depicted the Old Testament Judgment of Solomon, above this the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus, and above all else Jesus Christ: "the Flesh become the Word of God" (logos). Other frescoes dating from the 14th century depict Saint Christopher and Saint Agnes. Formerly in the monastery there was also a votive altarpiece from which the Master of the Saint Lambrecht Votive Altarpiece received his name; this is now in the Alte Galerie in Graz.

The abbey is a member of the Austrian Congregation within the Benedictine Confederation.

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Mariazell is a small city in Austria, in Styria, well known for winter sports, 143 kilometres (89 miles) N. of Graz. It is picturesquely situated in the valley of the Salza, amid the north Styrian Alps.

It is a site of pilgrimage for Catholics from Austria and neighboring countries to its east. The object of veneration is an image of the Virgin Mary reputed to work miracles, carved in lime-tree wood. This was brought to the place in 1157, and is now enshrined in a chapel adorned with objects of silver and other costly materials. The large church of which the chapel forms part was erected in 1644 as an expansion of a smaller church built by Louis I, King of Hungary, after a victory over the Turks in 1363. In the vicinity of Mariazell is the pretty Alpine lake of Erlaufsee.

There is no trace of large or enclosed settlements in the area of modern Mariazell dating from pre-Christian times or the first century A.D. The large number of Illyrian and Celtic mountain and river names in the region, such as for example the Erlauf, however suggest small settlements by these tribes. The salt springs in Halltal were not unknown to these groups.

By 16 AD the Romans were using the salt roads of Halltal and the Traisental. According to some accounts, there also was a Roman road going to Neuhaus.

In 600 the Slavs, under the leadership of the Avars, took control of the land and settled in the mountain region and began farming. The expansion of these peoples also accounts for the existence of some of the town and mountain names today.

In 1025, Emperor Conrad II gave his sister-in-law Beatrix, married to Adalbero of Eppenstein, parts of the county in the Mürztale as a gift. With this gift came around 100 Huben, which belonged to the territory of the future market of Mariazell. There was an argument for one year over this gift involving the Reichsgericht and even the Pope. Eberhard, Archbishop of Salzburg, decided in 1151 in favor of the Monastery of St. Lambrecht. It was allowed to control part of the parish territory of Mariazell and the of dominion of Aflenz. The date, December 21, 1157, is taken off a document from Pope Adrian IV, still traditionally celebrated as the date of Mariazell's establishment, even though it cannot be proven historically.

In 1157, Monk Magnus came into the Zellertal with a lime-tree wood statue of the Virgin Mary and founded the first chapel there, around which the town later grew. The town's name derived from the description "Mary in the cell", i.e. in the monk's chapel.

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Styria (German: Steiermark, German pronunciation: [ˈʃtaɪ.ɐmaʁk], Slovene/Croatian: Štajerska, Hungarian: Stajerorszag) is a state or Bundesland, located in the southeast of Austria. In area it is the second largest of the nine Austrian federated states, covering 16,401 km². It borders Slovenia as well as the other Austrian states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Burgenland, and Carinthia. The population (as of 2011) was 1,210,700. The capital city is Graz which had 276,526 inhabitants at the beginning of 2015.

The March of Styria derived its name from the original seat of its ruling Otakar dynasty: Steyr, in today's Upper Austria. In German, the area is still called "Steiermark" while in English the Latin name "Styria" is used. The ancient link between Steyr and Styria is also apparent in their nearly identical coats of arms, a white Panther on a green background.

During early Roman times, Styria was inhabited by Celtic tribes. After its conquest by the Romans, the eastern part of what is now Styria was part of Pannonia, while the western one was included in Noricum. During the Barbarian invasions, it was conquered or crossed by the Visigoths, the Huns, the Ostrogoths, the Rugii, the Lombards, the Franks and the Avars. In 595 the latter were defeated by the Slavs, who thenceforth ruled it.

In 1180 Styria separated from the Duchy of Carinthia and became a Grand Duchy of its own; in 1192 it became part of Austria. After the hereditary subdivision of the latter, Styria formed the central part of Inner Austria. Styria developed culturally and economically under Archduke John between 1809 and 1859. In 1918, after World War I, it was divided into a northern section (forming what is the current Austrian state), and a southern one, called Lower Styria, inhabited mostly by ethnic Slovenians, and which was annexed to Yugoslavia, and later in Slovenia.