Heiligenkreuz, Lower Austria


Heiligenkreuz is a municipality in the district of Baden, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is known for the Cistercian monastery of Heiligenkreuz Abbey, the associated papal college Benedict XVI and the Catholic Leopoldinum seminary.

Geography

The municipality is located within the Vienna Woods mountain range in the southwest of the Austrian capital Vienna. It is part of the Lower Austrian Industrieviertel region. Heiligenkreuz is a stop on the old Via Sacra from Vienna to the pilgrimage site Mariazell in Styria. The local economy largely depends on tourism and forestry.
The municipal area comprises the cadastral communities of Heiligenkreuz and Siegenfeld. In the southeast it borders on the district capital Baden.

History

The village of Siegenfeld in the March of Austria possibly arose around 1040. In 1133 the Babenberg margrave Leopold III established the Heiligenkreuz monastery in the sparsely settled area. Another nearby village, mentioned as Muchersdorf in an 1136 deed, later became abandoned.
Over the centuries, a small settlement grew outside the monastery walls, which was incorporated as the present-day municipality in 1849.

Population

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly as of 2010 local elections: