Stift Heiligenkreuz (Stift Holy Cross)

The Stift from the air. ____ The church from the court yard.

The altar. _______________ The Schubertorgan

Inlaid wood patterns. It took _________ The 'Fraterie' also

two brothers 20 years to_____________know as the 'work

complete all the woodwork.___________room.

The Rose window._______________The 'Funeral Chapel'

____________________________The monks are still laid
____________________________out here before they are

____________________________buried in the Stift's

____________________________grave yard.

Stain glass window in the____

'Fountain Room'. This______

was completed in 1295._____

Now it is called the ________

'Washing Room'.__________ Glass Harmonic

Choir stalls. They were completed between 1708-1712. Notice the engraving in the picture on the right.

Rooms in the stift used by TCMI for their graduation exercises.

Stove in a room

Click on any of the pictures to enlarge them for a better view.

Down the road just about 1/2 kilometer is Stift Heiligenkreuz. It is a monastery of monks from the Cistercian Order. The Stift was started in 1133 built from the money given to them by Leopold III of Austria. He is also called St. Leopold. His son Otto was a Cistercian monk and persuaded his father to build a monastery here. Because it was built by and the money came from someone outside of the church it is called a Stift.

By 1182 it had its own relic of the cross of Christ. It was given to them from Duke Leopold V as a gift to him from Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, King of Jerusalem.

Here are some pictures of the Stift both inside and out. A couple of them are stock photos, but most are mine. Pam and I were given a private tour last year, and I was able to take pictures of places not usually shown to most people.

The organ there was built in 1804. Schubert and Buckner both played it, and Schubert wrote a piece for it. To this day it is called the Schubertorgan. When our guide said that word, I wasn't quite sure what he said. I thought I heard the word Schubert but I wasn't to sure. It has 3700 pipes, 50 ranks and 2 manuals.

The pictures on top show the room where TCMI holds its graduation each year. We have a very good relationship with the Stift.

Just this past year Pope Benedict XVI was at the Stift for a visit.
Click on this link to see and hear the Cistercian Monks and Stift Heiligenkreuz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLFN-RVpLtk&feature=related
john