Engelszell Abbey - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Engelszell Abbey is a Trappist

TRAPPIST

TRAPPIST is Belgian robotic telescope in Chile which came online in 2010, and is an acronym for TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope, so named in homage to Trappist beer produced in the Belgian region. Situated high in the Chilean mountains at La Silla Observatory, it is actually...

monastery, the only one in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. It was formerly a Cistercian monastery, and is located near Engelhartszell an der Donau

Engelhartszell an der Donau

Engelhartszell an der Donau is a municipality in the district of Schärding in Upper Austria, Austria....

in the Innviertel
Innviertel
The Innviertel is a traditional Austrian region south-east of the Inn river. It forms the western part of the state of Upper Austria and borders the German state of Bavaria...

in Upper Austria

Upper Austria

Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...

Cistercians

The abbey was founded in 1293 by Bernhard of Prambach, Bishop of Passau

Bishop of Passau

The Diocese of Passau is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in Germany. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of München und Freising. The diocese covers an area of 5,442 km². The current bishop is Wilhelm Schraml.-History:...

, as a Cistercian monastery. It was settled in 1295 by monks from Wilhering Abbey

Wilhering Abbey

Wilhering Abbey is a Cistercianmonastery in Wilhering in Upper Austria, about 8 km from Linz. The buildings, re-constructed in the 18th century, are known for their spectacular Rococo decoration.-History:...

, its mother house, and was of the filiation of Morimond

Morimond Abbey

Morimond Abbeyis 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 Cistercian Order, along with La Ferté to the south,...

. It suffered a considerable decline, both spiritual and financial, in the period of the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

, and for a time passed into private ownership. From 1618 onwards the intervention and support of Wilhering Abbey gradually restored it.
On Easter Sunday 1699 however a disastrous fire plunged it once again into financial difficulties and from 1720 its management was in the hands of administrators. In 1746 Leopold Reichl, the last and greatest of Engelszell's abbots of the Common Observance, was appointed, and rebuilt its finances, and also between 1754 and 1764 the present abbey church.

In 1786 however Engelszell was dissolved by Emperor Joseph II

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...

and the buildings subsequently put to several secular uses, including as a factory and as a residence.

Trappists

It was occupied and re-founded as a Trappist

TRAPPIST

monastery in 1925 by refugee German monks expelled after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

from Oelenberg Abbey in Alsace, who had found temporary shelter in Banz Abbey

Banz Abbey

Banz Abbey , now known as Banz Castle , is a former Benedictine monastery, since 1978 a part of the town of Bad Staffelstein north of Bamberg, Bavaria, southern Germany.-History:...

but were looking for a permanent home. Initially established as a priory, in 1931 it was elevated to the rank of an abbey, and the former prior, Gregorius Eisvogel, appointed abbot, in which office he was dedicated by Johannes Maria Gföllner, Bishop of Linz, at a ceremony in Wilhering Abbey.
On 2 December 1939 the abbey was confiscated by the Gestapo

Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

and the community, numbering 73, evicted. Four monks were sent to Dachau Concentration Camp, while others were imprisoned elsewhere or drafted into the Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

At the end of the war in 1945, only about a third of the previous community returned. They were augmented however by the refugee German Trappists expelled from Mariastern Abbey

Mariastern Abbey

Mariastern Abbey is a Cistercian nunnery in Hohenweiler, Austria. It is the mother house of Marienfeld Abbey, founded in 1974....

, Banja Luka

Banja Luka

-History:The name "Banja Luka" was first mentioned in a document dated February 6, 1494, but Banja Luka's history dates back to ancient times. There is a substantial evidence of the Roman presence in the region during the first few centuries A.D., including an old fort "Kastel" in the centre of...

, Bosnia, under their abbot Bonaventura Diamant.

Since 1995 the abbot has been Marianus Hauseder. As at 2009, the number of monks in the community was 9.

Buildings

Engelszell Abbey church, built between 1754 and 1764, is an impressive church in the Rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

style, with a tower 76 metres high. The interior contains notable works of art works by Bartolomeo Altomonte

Bartolomeo Altomonte

Bartolomeo Altomonte, also known as Bartholomäus Hohenberg , was an Austrian baroque painter who specialized in large scale frescoes...

, Joseph Deutschmann and the stuccoist Johann Georg Üblhör. After structural damage in about 1957 the ceiling of the nave was repainted with a contemporary work by Fritz Fröhlich.

Economy

The monastery lives mostly from its agricultural produce. It has become known both for its liqueurs and for its cheese, Engelszeller Trappistenkäse.

List of superiors

Gregorius Eisvogel, 1925–31, prior; 1931–50, abbot
Basile Sartorio, 1950–1951, interim superior
Bonaventura Diamant, 1951–1952, superior ad nutum
Benno Stumpf, 1952–53, superior ad nutum; 1953–1966, abbot
Willibald Knoll, 1966–1983, abbot
Klaus Jansen, 1982–83, apostolic adminsitrator; 1983–89, abbot
Nivard Volkmer, 1989–1991, superior ad nutum
Marianus Hauseder, 1991–95, superior ad nutum; from 1995, abbot

Cistercians

Trappists

Buildings

Economy

List of superiors

Sources and external links

Further reading