Stift Schlägl

Stift Schlägl stands in Aigen-Schlägl in the Mühlviertel region of Upper Austria. It began as a Cistercian monastery founded around 1202 or 1203 by Bishop Wolfger of Erla of Passau. The first monks came from Langheim Abbey in Franconia. The Cistercian community lasted only a few years before disappearing by the winter of 1209–1210 or 1210–1211. The site lay north of the Große Mühl river between the Wurmbrandbach and Bannzaunbach streams in a densely forested area with harsh climate.

The Premonstratensians took over the abandoned monastery on 9 July 1218. Their first mother house may have been Osterhofen in Lower Bavaria or Mühlhausen in Bohemia. The Wittigonen noble families, including the Krumau and Rosenberg lines, supported the new foundation with generous gifts. Witiko I of Krumau gave the church and village of Lichtenwerd in 1258. Wok of Rosenberg left bequests in 1262. Budiwoj of Krumau and his wife Perchta donated the village of Schintau in 1264. Heinrich I of Rosenberg gave the church of Friedberg in 1305.

Visitors find a Premonstratensian abbey set among rolling hills near the Große Mühl. The monastery church contains Gothic vaulting and Baroque furnishings. A working brewery produces Schlägl beer on site. The surrounding countryside offers quiet walking trails linked to the Jakobsweg Oberes Mühlviertel and Rupertiweg long-distance paths. The abbey’s library preserves medieval manuscripts and early printed books. A peaceful courtyard garden provides space for reflection.