History
The monastery was founded in 1133 by Margrave St. Leopold III of Austria, at the request of his son Otto, soon to be abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Morimond in Burgundy and afterwards Bishop of Freising. Its first twelve monks together with their abbot, Gottschalk, came from Morimond at the request of Leopold III. The date of consecration was 11 September 1133. They called their abbey Heiligenkreuz (Holy Cross) as a sign of their devotion to redemption by the Cross.
On 31 May 1188 Leopold V of Austria presented the abbey with a relic of the True Cross, which is still to be seen and since 1983 is exhibited in the chapel of the Holy Cross. This relic was a present from Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, King of Jerusalem to duke Leopold V in 1182.
Heiligenkreuz was richly endowed by the founder's family, the Babenberg dynasty, and was active in the foundation of many daughter-houses.
The following Cistercian monasteries were founded by Heiligenkreuz:
- Zwettl Abbey in Lower Austria in 1138 (still extant);
- Czikador in Hungary in 1142 (dissolved in 1526);
- Baumgartenberg in Upper Austria in 1142 (dissolved in 1784);
- Marienberg in what is today Burgenland in 1194 (dissolved in 1526);
- Lilienfeld Abbey in Lower Austria in 1206 (still extant);
- Sancta Corona, known in Czech as Zlatá Koruna, in Bohemia in 1263 (dissolved in 1785);
- Neuberg in Styria in 1327 (dissolved in 1785).
- More recently, in 1988, Heiligenkreuz founded Stiepel Priory at Bochum-Stiepel in the Ruhrgebiet.
- Furthermore in the 1990s the monastery gave substantial support for re-founding Vyšší Brod Monastery in the Czech Republic.
During the 15th and 16th centuries the abbey was often endangered by epidemics, floods, and fires. It suffered severely during the Turkish wars of 1529 and 1683. In the latter, the Turkish hordes burnt down much of the abbey precinct, which was rebuilt on a larger scale in the Baroque style under Abbot Klemens Schäfer.
Heiligenkreuz abbots were often noted for their piety and learning. In 1734 the Abbey of St. Gotthard in Hungary was ceded to Heiligenkreuz by Emperor Charles VI. In the late 1800s, it was united with the Hungarian Zirc Abbey. The monastery of Neukloster at Wiener-Neustadt was joined to Heiligenkreuz in 1881.
Heiligenkreuz was spared dissolution under Emperor Joseph II. Although the National Socialists planned its dissolution in the Third Reich, this plan was not carried out. Abbot Karl Braunstorfer of Heiligenkreuz was a Council Father at the Second Vatican Council.
The abbey has been an important Austrian centre for music for more than 800 years. Many manuscripts have been found at this monastery, most notably those of Alberich Mazak (1609–1661). Today it is also popularly known for a 2008 recording of Gregorian chant: "Chant: Music For Paradise". Other recordings followed.
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