ZWETTL. - A Cistercian abbey in the diocese of St. Pölten (S. Hippolytus), in Lower Austria.
A daughter house of Heiligenkreuz (q.v.), of the line of Morimond, it was founded in 1138 by the knight Adamar I of Kuenring in the heart of the Waldviertel (a forested region), on a bend of the river Kamp, and did much to colonize and civilize these vast stretches. It flourished until the Hussite era, when it was devastated; it declined during the period of Lutheranism but revived in the 17th and 18th centuries. It suffered under Joseph II; yet it escaped oppression as a center of culture and continues its high mission today: it has charge of 15 incorporated parishes, a theological study house, and a boarding school for boy choristers.
The church, on the site of the original Romanesque structure, is early Gothic, with a "Hallenchor" and a three-aisled transept of equal height, containing 13 apsidal chapels, the work of a "Maestro" Giovanni, under the influence of Clairvaux and Pontigny and of the French cathedrals. From the 12th–13th centuries are the cloister, the chapter house, and the Fountain Chapel, a grand fusion of late Romanesque and early Gothic. The rear part of the church, with its bell tower (90 m high), is a majestic construction by J. Munggenast (1722–27), with a fine single-towered façade. The interior of the church is decorated, stuccoed, and frescoed in the Baroque style by various artists, including J. M. Schmidt, M. Altomonte, and P. Troger. Magnificent organ (1730) by J. Egedacher. The stalls, benches, and confessionals are outstanding works by lay brothers (M. Markl and L. Maleg). The abbey complex, with its six courtyards, church, gardens, and outbuildings, forms a whole of high pictorial interest and presents itself today as a Baroque reconstruction. Notable are the library hall by Munggenast with frescoes by P. Troger, the refectory, and the abbot’s residence. In the museum, noteworthy is the Madonna of Abbot Bohuslaus (1248–1258), a delicate French work. The library holds over 50,000 volumes and 420 manuscripts. Noted is Fr. Leopold Janauschek (d. 1898), eminent historian of the Cistercian Order (Origines Cistercienses, Vienna 1877 ff.; Bibliographia Bernardina, ibid. 1891; many scattered contributions in journals, etc.). The nearby town of Zwettl also preserves many monuments, such as two three-aisled Romanesque churches, a Romanesque "Karner" (ossuary), the town walls, and many Gothic and Baroque houses.