Lilienfeld Abbey

Lilienfeld was founded in 1202 by Duke Leopold VI, who is buried in it, and the buildings that survive make it the largest medieval abbey complex in Austria - the church, cloister, chapter house, dormitory and refectory largely intact in the transitional style between Romanesque and Gothic, with the sober proportions Cistercian building rules imposed. The cloister with its fountain house is the set piece. The library holds around forty thousand volumes in a baroque hall. Unlike Melk or Göttweig the abbey was never given a full baroque rebuilding, so what you see is medieval fabric with baroque furnishing inserted, which makes it the better place to understand how a Cistercian house was actually laid out. The community is small and the abbey is quiet compared with the Danube houses.

History

Duke Leopold VI of Austria and Styria founded the abbey in 1202 as a daughter house of Heiligenkreuz, and its abbots, as councillors of Austria's rulers, made it rich; in 1683 abbot Matthew Kollweis turned it into a fortress against the Ottoman advance, with a garrison and shelter for many refugees. Baroque additions came in the 17th century and the tower, library and church interior were refitted in the first half of the 18th; Joseph II suppressed the abbey in 1789, but Leopold II reopened it in 1790, and after a fire in 1810 abbot Johann Ladislaus Pyrker, later Patriarch of Venice, rebuilt it. Pope Paul VI made the church a minor basilica in 1976 (Wikipedia, Lilienfeld Abbey).

The main sights

• The largest medieval abbey in Austria - church, cloister and claustral ranges intact.
• Transitional architecture - Romanesque going over into Gothic, plainly Cistercian.
• A baroque library hall - around forty thousand volumes.
• Leopold VI's tomb - the founder buried in his own abbey.

When to go

All year. Half a day.

Things to know

Access is by guided tour at set times, mostly in German. The church is cold. It is much quieter than Melk, which cuts both ways - fewer crowds, fewer facilities.

Nearby

The Traisental runs south to Mariazell; Sankt Pölten is north.

Key facts