Rein Abbey

The monastery was founded in 1129 by Margrave Leopold the Strong and was the 38th monastery of the Cistercian Order. In its early phase, the abbey experienced a cultural and economic flourishing, fostered by donations from various noble families in the 12th and 13th centuries. In 1276, the Rein Oath was taken here, an alliance of Styrian and Carinthian nobles with King Rudolf I against Ottokar II Přemysl, which paved the way for the Habsburgs to rule Austria. At the end of the 15th century, the plague and the Reformation led to a decline in the number of monks, but the convent recovered in the late 16th century, and the abbots played an important role in the Counter-Reformation. Between the 12th and 17th centuries, four monastic foundations originated from Rein.