Schlierbach Abbey

Schlierbach Abbey

The abbey, April 2014
Location within Austria
Monastery information
Order	Cistercians
Established	22 February 1355
People
Architecture
Architect	Pietro Francesco Carlone
Style	Baroque
Site
Coordinates	47°56′10″N 14°07′37″E / 47.936107°N 14.126854°E / 47.936107; 14.126854Coordinates: 47°56′10″N 14°07′37″E / 47.936107°N 14.126854°E / 47.936107; 14.126854

Schlierbach Abbey (German: Stift Schlierbach) is a Cistercian monastery in Schlierbach, Austria founded in 1355, and rebuilt in the last quarter of the 17th century. The original foundation was a convent for nuns, abandoned around 1556 during the Protestant Reformation. The abbey was reoccupied as a monastery in 1620, and rebuilt in magnificent baroque style between 1672 and 1712. The monastery again went into decline with the upheavals before, during and after the Napoleonic era. It recovered only towards the end of the 19th century. In the 20th century the abbey established a viable economy based on a glass works, school, cheese manufacturing and other enterprises. The abbey is open to visitors, who may take tours, attend workshops and dine at the monastery restaurant.

The convent of Aula Beatae Virginis (Hall of the Blessed Virgin) was established in 1355 by Eberhard von Wallsee, governor of Upper Austria, in a castle that he owned. The abbey became the home of Cistercian nuns, who took up residence on 22 February 1355. Schlierbach was also called Marien Saal (Our Lady's Seal). A 1762 description noted that it was "situate on an eminence, which gives it the agreeable prospect of the beautiful Kremsthal. This cloyster was erected in the year 1355, and is possessed of the citadels of Mossenbach, Hochhaus near Forchdorf, and Grub or Muhlgrub." The Schöne Madonna sculpture held by the abbey was made for Albrecht II (the Lame) around 1340 and donated to the nuns.

During the Protestant Reformation the convent closed down around 1556 and was neglected for 64 years. In the 1570s the abandoned convent's properties were being profitably administered by the governor of Upper Austria, Dietmar, Lord of Losenstein. From about 1594 to about 1600 Johann Stainsdorfer of the Schotten Abbey was the administrator, and then the Kremsmünster Abbey took over administration.

In 1620 the convent was given to the male branch of the Cistercians. Monks from the Rein Abbey near Graz moved into the abbey. The monastery has been occupied since then. The third abbot, Balthasar Rauch, was invested in 1643. Between 1672 and 1712, particularly under abbots Benedikt Rieger (1679–95) and Nivard Dierer (1696–1715) the abbey was magnificently rebuilt and expanded. The work was undertaken by members of the Carlone family, and these buildings remain today. The plans for the abbey's new church were supplied by Pietro Francesco Carlone, and the work was executed by his sons. Starting in 1770 Valentin Hochleitner of Spital am Pyhrn built the organ in the monastery church.