In the medieval Benedictine monasteries, besides the sacral and secular tasks the monks have been carrying out medical activities from the very early days. A charter dating back to 1201 is the evidence that an infirmary has been run on the Saint Martin?s hill since the foundation in 996, where besides the monks also the local people were cured. The daily use of medical herbs is testified by a service book from 1697, which contains several benedictions for medical herbs healing different illnesses. The manuscript written in 1735 by a monk, Elek Reisch, contains approximately 600 recipes, among them about 50 recipes for herbal teas as well as instructions for the preparation of different salves, tinctures and herbal baths.

The monasteries functioning for centuries without intermission have accumulated a great experience in medicine, recorded in books and prescriptions available even today. The manufacturing of herbal products and the therapeutic activities of the present Benedictine community are based on old traditions and written records of the former Benedictine scientists, meeting today’s standards of science and technology. The archabbey recently started to manufacture a number of herbal products again, involving the associates of the monastery and external partners meeting strict professional and quality requirements.