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 Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

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 ...

. It is the oldest continuously occupied Cistercian monastery in the world.

History

The monastery was founded in 1133 by

Margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the ...

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 The following people were bishops, prince-bishops or archbishops of Freising or Munich and Freising in Bavaria: Bishops of Freising * St. Corbinian (724–730); founded the Benedictine abbey in Freising, although the diocese was not orga ...

. 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 In Christianity, salvation (also called deliverance or redemption) is the "saving fhuman beings from sin and its consequences, which include death and separation from God" by Christ's death and resurrection, and the justification following ...

. On 31 May 1188 Leopold V of Austria presented the abbey with a relic of the

True Cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...

, 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 The King of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was conquered in 1099. Godfrey of Bouillon, the first ruler of ...

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 Lilienfeld Abbey (german: Stift Lilienfeld) is a Cistercian monastery in Lilienfeld in Lower Austria, south of Sankt Pölten. History It was founded in 1202 by Leopold VI, Duke of Austria and Styria, as a daughter house of Heiligenkreuz 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 Stiepel Priory is a Cistercian monastery in Stiepel in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in 1988 at the instigation of Franz Hengsbach, first Bishop of the Diocese of the Ruhr. It is a dependent house of Heiligenkreuz Abbe ...

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 A series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states took place from the Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, waged in Anatolia ...

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 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 ...

style under Abbot Klemens Schäfer. Heiligenkreuz abbots were often noted for their piety and learning. In 1734 the Abbey of St. Gotthard in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

was ceded to Heiligenkreuz by

Emperor Charles VI Charles VI (german: Karl; la, Carolus; 1 October 1685 – 20 October 1740) was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy from 1711 until his death, succeeding his elder brother, Joseph I. He unsuccessfully claimed the thron ...

. 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 Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

. 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 Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe dur ...

: ''"Chant: Music For Paradise"''. Other recordings followed.

Abbey and church

Stift Heiligenkreuz (Stiftshof) 2011-09-14

Entrance to the abbey is through a large inner court in the centre of which stands a

Holy Trinity Column, designed by Giovanni Giuliani and completed in 1739. The façade, as in most Cistercian churches, shows three simple windows as a symbol for the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

. Typically Cistercian, the church originally lacked a bell-tower, but one was added during the Baroque era on the north side of the church. The abbey church of Heiligenkreuz combines two styles of architecture. The façade, naves and the transept (dedicated 1187) are Romanesque, while the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

(13th century) is

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. The austere nave is a rare, and famous, example of Romanesque architecture in Austria. The 13th century window paintings in the choir are some of the most beautiful remnants of medieval art. The

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole commun ...

in the cloisters contains the graves of thirteen members of the House of

Babenberg The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from its creation in 976 AD until its ...

, some of them being: * Blessed Otto of Freising * Duke Leopold V the Virtuous * Duke Frederick I the Catholic * Henry I, Duke of Mödling * Duke Frederick II the Quarrelsome The remains of Blessed Otto of Freising are kept under the altar of the Blessed Sacrament at the east end of the presbytery. The Baroness Mary Vetsera, party to a suicide pact in nearby Mayerling with Crown Prince Rudolf von Habsburg, is buried in the village cemetery near Heiligenkreuz.

Present day

Heiligenkreuz - Stiftskirche, Innenansicht (a)

In 1802 an institute for philosophical and theological studies was established, which became a ''Hochschule'' in 1976. The Benedict XVI Philosophical-Theological University is now one of the largest faculties for the education of priests in the German-speaking world. In January 2007, Pope Benedict XVI raised the ''Hochschule'' to the status of ''Pontifical Athenaeum'', which means the institution may now grant degrees according to Roman university privileges, instead of in the name of other Austrian universities. Presently, over 90 monks belong to the monastic community, the focus of which is the liturgy and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

(in the

Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite The Mass of Paul VI, also known as the Ordinary Form or Novus Ordo, is the most commonly used liturgy in the Catholic Church. It is a form of the Latin Church's Roman Rite and was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969, published by him in the ...

). Some of the monks also have pastoral duties in the 17 parishes for which the abbey is responsible or serve as professors at the ''Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule''. Others serve in caring for the upkeep of the historic abbey. Heiligenkreuz is also home to the Priesterseminar Leopoldinum (formerly Collegium Rudolphinum), a theological college for men in preparation for the priesthood. Stift Heiligenkreuz is known today as one of the most vibrant monasteries in central Europe; the current abbot is a member of the Ratzinger Schülerkreis; one of the monks is the Procurator General of the Order, working in Rome. Many other monasteries send their junior monks to Heiligenkreuz for theological and monastic training. It was one of the first abbeys to realize the value of the internet apostolate, maintaining a frequently update
homepage
and several groups on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

as well as various blogs such as '
The Monastic Channel
'', '
Sancrucensis
'', and '
EUCist News
''. Pope

Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

visited the abbey and its seminary during his trip to Austria in September 2007.

Media

* In November 2002 Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, nephew of reigning abbot Gregor Henckel Donnersmarck, wrote the screenplay for his film ''

The Lives of Others ''The Lives of Others'' (german: link=no, Das Leben der Anderen, ) is a 2006 German drama film written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck marking his feature film directorial debut. The plot is about the monitoring of East Berli ...

'' in a cell at the abbey. After the film won the 2007 Oscar in the category "Best Foreign Film", he returned for a celebration at Heiligenkreuz with the statue on 28 October. * In April 2008, some of the monks from Heiligenkreuz abbey recorded a CD of Gregorian plainsong, which was released on May 19 on Universal Classics under the title ''Chant: Music For Paradise'' (titled ''Chant: Music for the Soul'' in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

). A digital single from the album, "Hymnus '

Veni Creator Spiritus "Veni Creator Spiritus" (Come, Creator Spirit) is a traditional Christian hymn believed to have been written by Rabanus Maurus, a ninth-century German monk, teacher, and archbishop. When the original Latin text is used, it is normally sung in ...

'" was released on May 12. The monks signed the deal with

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and it ...

after the label had advertised their search for sacred singers and the monks submitted their demo via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. The album quickly went gold in the UK and Germany, platinum in Belgium and Poland, and triple platinum in Austria. In February 2009 the monks were nominated ''Best Newcomer (International)'' for the German ECHO Awards (alongside pop-stars like

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved natio ...

and

Gabriella Cilmi Gabriella Lucia Cilmi ( ; ; born 10 October 1991) is an Australian pop singer. A contralto, Cilmi is known for her distinctive raspy singing voice. Her debut album, '' Lessons to Be Learned'', was released in March 2008, becoming a moderate in ...

) and the recording was nominated ''Album of the Year'' by the Classical Brits 2009. * In December 2010 HBO premiered a documentary ''Top Ten Monks'', which profiles the monks and tells the story of their album and their lives in the monastery. * In the autumn of 2011 the community released a new album ''Chant: Amor Et Passio'' under their own label ''Obsculta Music'' which quickly went gold.Article in German
/ref> * The inner court of the Abbey along with elements from the church are portrayed on the cover of the children's book 'Paws' by the Bulgarian author T. Yana Yakova; the book is one of the 200 books of 2015 the annual White Raven catalogue of Internationale Jugendbibliothek features.

References

External links