While the Church Synods, monastic life dies

Upper Austria: Trappists leave Engelszell Abbey

Lack of young people and age structure make it no longer possible to remain in Engelszell, according to the order's leadership

Almost 100 years ago, in 1925, Trappist monks repopulated the former Cistercian monastery of Engelszell on the Danube and brought it to a new flowering. For 100 years, the monks have set important accents in pastoral care and also for tourism. Due to a lack of young people and the age structure, the last four Trappist monks are leaving the monastery in Upper Austria. This was announced by the local religious orders on Wednesday.

Abbot General Dom Bernardus Peeters informed the Bishop of Linz, Manfred Scheuer, and the President of the Austrian Conference of Religious Orders, Archabbot Korbinian Birnbacher, about the dissolution of Engelszell Abbey in a personal letter.

Birnbacher said in a first statement: "I thank the Trappist brothers for their work over the last 100 years. I thank the responsible persons of the Order for all their efforts and acknowledge the clear decision, which was certainly not easy to take. I wish the monks all the best and God's blessing for the future. The Austrian Conference of Religious Orders will continue to stand by the Trappists in word and deed and help where help is requested."

As the Trappists themselves announced, a commission for Engelszell had been in operation since autumn 2022. In April 2023, they had unanimously come to the conclusion to ask the order to dissolve the monastery and to look for a new place for the brothers to live. The farewell from the monastery will take place in the near future. There is no fixed date yet. According to the order, good solutions are also to be found for the business enterprises and for the employees in the enterprises.

In Upper Austria since 1925

Since 1925, Trappists from Oelenberg in Alsace have occupied the empty monastery buildings of Engelszell Abbey, where Cistercians had lived from 1293 to 1786. In 1931 the monastery was elevated to the status of an abbey, but in 1939 it was expropriated by National Socialism; four monks died in concentration camps. In 1945, the monks returned and continued to run the nursing home, which had been set up in the monastery during the war years, was later given a modern building near the monastery and is now run by Caritas.

Land ownership, usually the economic basis of monasteries, is very modest in the case of Engelszell Abbey. A good part of the income therefore comes from renting out buildings and from tourism with a monastery shop. In addition to the traditional liqueur production, the small brewery newly built during Abbot Hauseder's tenure is significant for the monastery's economy. The Trappist beer developed into a sought-after export hit in a short time.

Engelszell Abbey is the only German-speaking male monastery of the Trappist Order, and for this very reason it was of great importance to the "Cistercians of the strict observance" called Trappists.

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