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| - The monastery was founded by Ulrich and Kolo of Wilhering, who gave the family's old castle for the purpose, in accordance with the wish of their deceased father, after the family had moved to their new castle at Waxenberg. It was settled initially by Augustinian Canons, but in the first years the new foundation was beset with problems, and on 30 September 1146 Ulrich replaced the canons with Cistercian monks from Rein Abbey in Styria. However, after less than forty years only two monks remained. At this point, Heinrich, the fourth abbot, transferred the abbey to Burkhard, abbot of Ebrach Abbey, the mother house of Rein, in 1185, and the monastery was re-settled by monks from Ebrach, after which the community was established for the future on a secure footing.
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| - The monastery was founded by Ulrich and Kolo of Wilhering, who gave the family's old castle for the purpose, in accordance with the wish of their deceased father, after the family had moved to their new castle at Waxenberg. It was settled initially by Augustinian Canons, but in the first years the new foundation was beset with problems, and on 30 September 1146 Ulrich replaced the canons with Cistercian monks from Rein Abbey in Styria. However, after less than forty years only two monks remained. At this point, Heinrich, the fourth abbot, transferred the abbey to Burkhard, abbot of Ebrach Abbey, the mother house of Rein, in 1185, and the monastery was re-settled by monks from Ebrach, after which the community was established for the future on a secure footing. Wilhering itself later founded Hohenfurth Abbey, today known as Vyšší Brod Abbey, in the Czech Republic (1258), Engelszell Abbey in Upper Austria (1295) and Säusenstein Abbey in Lower Austria (1334). In 1928 the monastery founded a daughter house at Apolo in Bolivia as part of a mission drive. The abbey almost came to end during the Reformation, when the then abbot, Erasmus Mayer, absconded with its funds to Nuremberg, where he married, and by 1585 there were no monks left at all. The abbey was only saved by the efforts of Abbot Alexander a Lacu, installed by the Emperor in the Counter-Reformation. The abbey buildings were almost entirely destroyed by fire on 6 March 1733. Of the previous buildings, only a Romanesque doorway, parts of the Gothic cloister and two tombs remained. Abbot Johann Baptist Hinterhölzl (1734-1750) made emergency repairs to the church using the remnants of the walls, but the church was later completely rebuilt in the Rococo style by Johann Haslinger of Linz, who may have been working to designs by Martino Altomonte, designer of the high altar. The ceiling and altar paintings are by Martino Altomonte and his son Bartolomeo, while the richly coloured stucco work is by Johann Michael Feichtmayr and Johann Georg Ueblherr. The result is now one of the most significant Rococo buildings in the German-speaking world. In 1940, Wilhering Abbey was expropriated by the Nazis, and the monks were expelled: some were arrested and sent to concentration camps, while others were forced into military service. The then abbot, Dr. Bernhard Burgstaller, was imprisoned and died of starvation in 1941. The buildings were used at first to accommodate the seminary from Linz, and then from 1944 for displaced Germans from Bessarabia and as a military hospital. In 1945 American troops took over the premises. The monks returned in the same year to resume monastic life and to reopen the school. As of 2007, the monastic community numbered 28. At present the abbey's business enterprises (mainly forestry, farming and greenhouses) provide a sound economic basis for the monastery. Kürnberg Forest (Kürnberger Wald), owned by the abbey and situated between Wilhering and Linz, forms a green belt that is highly beneficial to the people of the region.
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