A Short Introduction to the History of the Monastery of St. Lambrecht and the Situation before the Anschluss in 1938

Historically, the Benedictine monastery was the cultural centre of the municipality of St. Lambrecht in the district of Murau in West Styria, close to the Carinthian border.

The monastery was founded by margrave Markward von Eppenstein in the eleventh century.1The first time Kirche des heiligen Lambert im Walde is documented is in a record in 1066. http://www.murtal.at/jeunesse/lambrecht.htm. His son, duke Heinrich III of Carinthia, completed the establishment, and by means of a donation provided the materials necessary for the monks’ livelihood. The donation of churches and properties also included spiritual care for the local population. In the course of the following centuries this kind of care developed into an important field of activity for the Benedictine monks. The history of the monastery is characterised by a train of events, such as the collapse of the Romanesque abbey church, destruction of the abbey by fire and its rebuilding. The monastery was dissolved in 1786 during the reign of Joseph II. The emperor Franz II re-established it at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Between 1835 and 1932 there was a convent grammar school here, which was closed down in 1932, together with the choristers’ convent.2See http://www.stift-stlambrecht.at; http://www.murtal.at/jeunesse/lambrecht.htm. The Sängerknabenkonvent offered the opportunity to attend the first classes of grammar school in St. Lambrecht. The teaching staff consisted of priests but, if necessary, secular teachers were also called in to provide some support. The boarding school averaged twenty to thirty choir boys, of whom only a few had to pay a small monthly fee for board and lodging. This led to such high costs that the decision was made to close the school during the bad economic situation in the 1930s.3StiA, Schuber Ausgleich, Bericht des Ausgleichverwalters, S. 53f. Paraphrased after Jagoschütz 1990, p. 17, footnote 20

St.-Lambrecht, ansichtkaart uit de jaren veertig
St. Lambrecht, post card from the 1940s (Historical Archives Watchtower Society Kraainem, Belgium (WTA Kraainem), Kraainem)

Bankruptcy was averted by the sale of some buildings and intervention by the trustee. The monastery recovered economically after the enforced settlement. According to Father Stefan Jagoschütz however, the reputation of the monastery was so severely damaged that the Nazi propaganda could use that to their advantage in the year 1938.4See Jagoschütz 1990, p. 24; Seiler 1994, p. 15.

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