Heiligenkreuz Abbey
| Heiligenkreuz Abbey | |
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Heiligenkreuz Abbey
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Heiligenkreuz, Lower Austria |
| Geographic coordinates | 48°03′21″N 16°08′09″E / 48.055961°N 16.135847°ECoordinates: 48°03′21″N 16°08′09″E / 48.055961°N 16.135847°E |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic Church |
| Year consecrated | Abbey Church (1187) Monastery complex (1240) |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Abbey |
| Status | Active |
| Leadership | Maximilian Heim |
| Website | www |
| Architectural description | |
| Architect(s) | Giovanni Giuliani |
| Architectural type | Abbey |
| Architectural style | Cistercian, Gothic, Romanesque |
| Founder | Leopold III, Margrave of Austria |
| Groundbreaking | 11 September 1133 |
Heiligenkreuz Abbey (German: Stift Heiligenkreuz; English: 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 oldest continuously occupied Cistercian monastery in the world.
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:
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.
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