Klosteraufhebungen in Innerösterreich – ein Überblick

Emperor Joseph II.'s ecclesiastical reforms were also to have a lasting effect on the religious landscape of Inner Austria. The state's intervention in ecclesiastical structures, in everyday religious life with the reduction of public holidays, the prohibition of pilgrimages and even regulations on the amount of effort permitted in church activities, were countered by religious tolerance for members of non-Catholic and non-Christian religious communities and, in particular, the expansion of a nationwide network of parishes. However, clerical communities that were not dedicated to schools, education or nursing had no place in the enlightened state. In Carinthia, for example, after the abolition of the monasteries by Joseph II, there were only the women's convents of the Elisabethines and Ursulines and thus communities whose task was nursing and teaching. In the Habsburg hereditary lands of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola alone, 65 convents were abolished between 1782 and 1790. Only a few were later resettled, including the Carinthian monastery of St. Paul with monks from the imperial abbey of St. Blasien (Schwarzwald) in 1809. The convent of the Styrian monastery of St. Lambrecht received permission to resume monastic life under Francis II/I in 1802. This article describes the economic situation of selected convents in Inner Austria on the eve of the Josephinian abolitions. It also touches on topics that have so far received less attention in research, such as the handling of the archives of the abolished communities or the careers of the religious after the abolition of their communities. The Habsburg rulers used the proceeds from the dissolution of individual women's religious communities to endow noble ladies' convents. The Josephinian state church remained influential until well into the 19th century, particularly for state officials. Restrictive state church policy made it difficult to found new sites. From the 1840s onwards, special support was given by the bishops to those women's communities that were active in apostolic or charitable work.