Heiligenkreuz

HEILIGENKREUZ. - Cistercian abbey in Lower Austria, in the diocese of Vienna; since 1880 it has been united with the abbey of Neukloster, at Wiener-Neustadt (founded in 1444). It has the care of 22 incorporated parishes, and a celebrated school of theology.

H. is the oldest Cistercian abbey in Austria, a direct daughter of Morimond, founded on 11 September 1135 by Duke Leopold III, the Saint, with the involvement of Otto, Bishop of Freising, his son. H. gave rise to a great host of abbeys in central and eastern Europe. The architecture of the church too exercised a broad influence on the Cistercian style; the place originally called

"Am Sattelbach", or "in valle nemorosa", received its present name when Leopold VI placed there one of the largest particles of the Holy Cross, which he had personally obtained at the capture of Jerusalem (1187). The church still preserves, in its three naves with cross vaulting, the structure of 1160; the Gothic choir is from 1294. It has a large Romanesque cloister, with stained glass of the period; famous is the dormitory, with three naves, of 1200, and the chapel, originally on a Greek cross plan, for the Holy Cross, later remodelled. The convent was largely rebuilt in the Baroque era. In the museum there are many valuable works of art.

Giuseppe Löw