Zwettl Abbey (german: Stift Zwettl) is a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monastery located in

Zwettl __NOTOC__ Zwettl (; Central Bavarian: ''Zwedl''; Czech: ''Světlá'') is a town and district capital of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is chiefly known as the location of Zwettl Abbey, first mentioned in October 1139. History The n ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

, in the Diocese of St. Pölten.

History

Zwettl Abbey was founded in 1137 by Hadmar I of Kuenring, with Herrmann, a monk of

Heiligenkreuz Abbey Heiligenkreuz Abbey (german: Stift Heiligenkreuz; en, Abbey of the Holy Cross) is a Cistercian monastery in the village of Heiligenkreuz in the southern part of the Vienna woods, c. 13 km north-west of Baden in Lower Austria. It is the olde ...

, as its first abbot (1137–47). It was a daughter house of Heiligenkreuz, of the line of

Morimond Morimond Abbey is a religious complex in Parnoy-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne department, in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It was the fourth of the four great daughter abbeys of Cîteaux Abbey, of primary importance in the spread of the Ci ...

. The foundation was confirmed by

Pope Innocent II Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the fi ...

(1140) and over the course of time by several other popes and emperors. Several members of the family of the founder were buried here. The monastery was constructed, as Cistercian houses often were, in a river valley, in this case in a bend of the River Kamp. Extensive buildings were erected, and the church, chapter-room, and dormitory were blessed in 1159, though the entire monastery was not completed until 1218. Zwettl Abbey soon became one of the most important monasteries in the order. Towards the end of the fourteenth century, the abbey was repeatedly plundered, especially in 1426, when 4,000

Hussites The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussit ...

sacked and burned it down. It was rebuilt under Abbot John (1437–51). Near the end of the fifteenth century, over forty monks lived in Zwettl Abbey. Under the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

the community was reduced to six monks and one secular priest. By an imperial rescript the monastery was forced to sell one quarter of its large possessions. It flourished again under Abbot Erasmus (1512-1545) and his successors during the Baroque period, notwithstanding the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

and the Turkish invasion, during which it was saved from destruction by the friendship of the Count of Thurn for Abbot Siegfried. During the administrations of Abbot Linck (1646–71), author of the ''Annales Austrio Claravallenses'', and Abbot Melchior (1706-1747), who rebuilt a great part of the abbey and enriched it with many precious vessels and vestments, it reached its zenith. Abbot Melchior encouraged study and opened schools of philosophy, theology and so on in the monastery. During the period of

Josephinism Josephinism was the collective domestic policies of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1765–1790). During the ten years in which Joseph was the sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy (1780–1790), he attempted to legislate a series of drastic reforms ...

Abbot Rainer was obliged to resign, to be succeeded by a

commendatory abbot A commendatory abbot ( la, abbas commendatarius) is an ecclesiastic, or sometimes a layman, who holds an abbey ''in commendam'', drawing its revenues but not exercising any authority over its inner monastic discipline. If a commendatory abbot is an ...

(1786), but after 1804 the community was allowed to elect its own abbot. From 1878 the abbey was administered by Abbot Stephen Roessler, the sixty-first from its foundation. Besides him two other noted historians were members of Zwettl during the nineteenth century: Johann von Frast (d. 1850) and Leopold Janauschek, the author of ''Originum Cisterciensium''.

Buildings

The monastery contains buildings of all architectural styles from Romanesque to

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

. The modern form of the premises is the result of the Baroque refurbishment in the 18th century, which involved the reconstruction of the principal buildings. Among other parts the western tower was constructed by

Josef Munggenast Josef Munggenast (5 March 1680 – 3 May 1741) was an Austrian architect and masterbuilder of the Baroque period. Munggenast was born in Schnann in Tyrol, the nephew of Jakob Prandtauer, who advanced his career and whose influence marked his sty ...

to plans by

Matthias Steinl Matthias Steinl (otherwise Steindel, Staindle, Steindl or Stinle) (c. 1644–18 April 1727) was an Austrian painter, architect and designer, and one of the country's best known Baroque art, Baroque sculptors. Together with Johann Bernhard Fisc ...

. Only one other tower in Lower Austria is higher than this building's 82 meters. Another part of this construction period is the library, which contains frescoes by

Paul Troger Paul Troger (30 October 1698 – 20 July 1762) was an Austrian painter, draughtsman, and printmaker of the late Baroque period. Troger's illusionistic ceiling paintings in fresco are notable for their dramatic vitality of movement and their pale ...

. From 1728 to 1731 Johann Ignaz Egedacher from Passau constructed the famous Egedacher Organ, one of the biggest and most expensive organs of the region of Vienna and Lower Austria.

Present day

The abbey's library contains over 60,000 volumes, 500 incunabula, and 420 manuscripts, the most famous of which is the Zwettl ''Stiftungsbuch'' ("

cartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (''rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

"). The community now consists of 23 monks, who have care of fourteen incorporated parishes and four others. The monastery makes its living from a forest of about 2,500 hectares, a fish farm of 90 hectares, a farm of 110 hectares and the vineyards of

Schloss Gobelsburg Schloss Gobelsburg is a winery and castle in the Kamptal wine growing region in Lower Austria, some 50 miles to the north west of Vienna. The estate produces both red and white wines. Wine production on the estate dates to 1171; it is the oldest wi ...

with about 35 hectares. The monastery buildings now contain a school. Every year since 1983 an organ festival has been held here.

Gallery

File:Stift Zwettl Kirche Innenraum 04.JPG, Abbey Church high altar File:Stift Zwettl Kirche Orgel 01.JPG, Egedacher organ File:Stift Zwettl Pforte 01.JPG, Prälatenhof façade File:Stift Zwettl Kapitelsaal 01.JPG, Chapter house File:Stift Zwettl Kreuzgang Hof 03.JPG, Inner courtyard and lavatorium in the cloister File:Stift Zwettl Kreuzgang Brunnenhaus 03.JPG, Fountain in the lavatorium File:Stift Zwettl Kreuzgang Ost+Nordflügel 01.JPG, Cloister

Notes

References

* Exner, Walter:'' Der Bernhardi-Altar im Stift Zwettl''. Siebenberg-Verlag, Bad Wildungen, 1981 * Kubes, Karl, Rössl, Joachim, Fasching, Herbert: ''Stift Zwettl und seine Kunstschätze ''. Verlag Niederösterreichisches Pressehaus, St. Pölten, Wien 1979, * * Pechloff, Ursula: ''Stift Zwettl'', Zusatz zum Titel English, italiano, česky. Kunstverlag Peda, Passau, 1995, * Walli, Stefan: ''Evaluierung der Dauerausstellung "Wer’s glaubt, wird selig?" im Stift Zwettl''. Hochschulschrift, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Diplom-Arbeit, 2004

External links

Zwettl Abbey official website
{{Authority control Cistercian monasteries in Austria 1137 establishments in Europe Religious organizations established in the 1130s Zwettl Zwettl District Monasteries in Lower Austria Tourist attractions in Lower Austria