Lienz Friary

Lienz Friary
Franziskanerkloster Lienz
Lienz Friary (2011)
Lienz Friary Location of Lienz Friary in southern Austria
General information
Town or city	Lienz, East Tyrol
Country	Austria
Coordinates	46°49′50″N 12°45′58″E / 46.83056°N 12.76611°E / 46.83056; 12.76611Coordinates: 46°49′50″N 12°45′58″E / 46.83056°N 12.76611°E / 46.83056; 12.76611

Lienz Friary (German: Franziskanerkloster Lienz) is a Franciscan friary in the centre of the town of Lienz in East Tyrol, Austria, formerly a Carmelite friary.

The Carmelite friary in Lienz was founded in 1349 by the Countess Euphemia of Görz and her two sons, Albert IV and Meinhard VII. It was set up for a community of twelve residents but the number of brothers rose to about 20. In 1430 a vicariate was set up for the friary in Tristach, which along with the contributions of the populace and the noble families secured its financial stability. Although it burned down several times in the following centuries, it always received enough in donations to be able to rebuild. In about 1450 a theological college for the Carmelite Order was housed here. In the early 16th century the prior, Lucas Zach, introduced a reform to ensure that the Carmelite rule was better followed.

From 1748 to 1773 the Carmelites took on the serving of the parish of Tristach. From 1775 they also taught in the ordinary town school (Normalschule) and from 1777 worked as professors in the Gymnasium of Lienz. Nevertheless, the friary was unable to avoid the wave of monastic suppressions under Joseph II. On 21 March 1785 the community were instructed to vacate the premises to make way for a Franciscan community previously displaced from their friary in Innsbruck. The conventual buildings, the church and all possessions passed to the state "". Most of the inventory was sold to the profit of the fund, including the valuable library of 4,640 volumes and 168 manuscripts. On 16 April 1785 the Franciscans moved in. Some of the 21 dispossessed Carmelites remained in the town, where nine of them died.

Some works of art remain from the Carmelite period:

As a replacement for the Franciscan friary in Innsbruck, which was suppressed by Emperor Joseph II on 11 April 1785 and the premises of which now accommodate the Tyrolean Museum of Folk Art, the Franciscans were granted the Carmelite friary in Lienz, thus displacing the Carmelites who occupied it. The Franciscans moved into the vacated premises on 19 April 1785. Their duties were the care of souls and the provision of schooling in Lienz. Of the 22 members of the new community six were professors at the Lienz Gymnasium and another two were teachers at the ordinary school (Normalschule). From 1787 till now the Franciscans have also assisted the nearby convent of Dominican nuns as confessors. In 1788 an auxiliary priest was attached to the friary church for the use of the townspeople, and the Franciscans began their care of souls in the hospital.