LILIENFELD, ABBEY OF

Cistercian abbey in the Diocese of St. Pölten, Lower Austria; founded (1202) by Duke Leopold VI, who is buried there, and settled (1206) from heiligenkreuz. It flourished in the 14th century, declined during the Reformation, and was revived by German-born abbots and monks educated at the Germanicum in Rome (Ignaz Kraft 1622–38 and Cornelius Strauch 1638–50); but there were tensions between German and Austrian monks. Abbot Matthäus Kolweiss (1650–95), an Austrian,

founded St. Joseph Archconfraternity (1653) and regained zirc for the Cistercians. Lilienfeld, which successfully resisted the Turks (1683), was suppressed briefly (1789–90) and badly damaged by fire (1810) and war (1945). The large early Gothic church (1230), with baroque furnishings (1730–45), and the 13th-century cloister are of interest. The library, whose main hall was built c. 1700, has 34,000 volumes, 119 incunabula, and 226 MSS. The monk Christianus (d. before 1332) was a liturgical poet; Abbot Ulrich (1345–51) compiled the Concordantia caritatis; Chrysostomus hanthaler (1717–54) compiled the Fasti Campililienses; Abbot Ladislaus Pyrker (1812–18), later patriarch of Venice, was a poet. The 100 monks of 1330 declined to 43 in 1964. The abbey serves 19 parishes.

Bibliography: n. mussbacher, "Das Stift Lilienfeld," Heimatkunde Lilienfeld, v. 1, 2 (Vienna-Lilienfeld 1960–63). l. h. cottineau, Répertoire topobibliographique des abbayes et prieurés, 2 v. (Mâcon 1935–39) 1:1614. f. loidl, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 6:1054.

[n. mussbacher]