Mauerbach Charterhouse

Geschichte

Mauerbach Charterhouse, in Mauerbach on the outskirts of Vienna, Austria, is a former Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse. Founded in 1314 and rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Baroque monastic complex is one of the most important structures of its kind in Austria. Since 1984 the former charterhouse has been undergoing restoration by the Austrian Federal Monuments Office, which has its workshops there.HistoryMauerbach Charterhouse was founded in 1314 by the Austrian duke Frederick the Fair, who was later buried here. The new foundation was settled by 12 monks under Prior Gottfried descending from Seiz (Žiče) in Styria and was consecrated in 1316. In 1342 the Prague Charterhouse (at Smíchov), destroyed in the Hussite Wars, was settled by monks who probably came from Mauerbach.The monastery was plundered and set on fire by Ottoman troops during the 1529 Siege of Vienna and suffered further serious structural damage by the 1590 Neulengbach earthquake. Under Abbot Georg Fasel (1616-1631) an intensive rebuilding programme began, finishing in 1660, during which the great majority of the present-day buildings were constructed. The chronicle of the charterhouse written by Abbot Leopold Brenner was available from as early as 1669, but was not printed until 1725. Brenner had lived here from 1641 and made his profession in 1650, and was thus an eye witness of the building of the early Baroque monastery. In 1683 renewed Turkish assaults during the Battle of Vienna caused more destruction, launching a further programme of repairs and refurbishment s which finished only in 1750.