Lilienfeld Abbey

Lilienfeld Abbey was founded in 1206 by Duke Leopold VI of Austria and Styria, as a daughter monastery of Heiligenkreuz Abbey. Duke Leopold VI also chose the monastery as his final resting place and was interred here after his death in 1230, coinciding with the consecration of the abbey church. Queen Margarete of Babenberg also found her final resting place here in the 13th century. In the 14th century, the abbey's scriptorium gained particular renown under Abbot Ulrich von Lilienfeld and the monk Christanus. Following a period of spiritual challenges in the 16th century, the abbey evolved into an important center of the Counter-Reformation in the 17th century. Extensive early Baroque additions characterized this era. During the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683, the abbey successfully resisted plunder. The 18th century saw Baroque redesigns of the church tower, library, and church interior. After a brief suppression by Emperor Joseph II in 1789, the abbey was restored by Emperor Leopold II at the request of the local populace. A major fire in 1810 destroyed large parts of the complex, which was subsequently rebuilt in the following years under Abbot Johann Ladislaus Pyrker.