Sigismund II. Braun

Sigismund Braun (born March 15, 1660 in Herzogenburg as Johannes Valentin Braun; † April 4, 1716 at Schloss Kreisbach near Wilhelmsburg ) was an Austrian Cistercian and from 1695 to 1716 as Sigismund II, the 50th abbot of the Cistercian monastery Lilienfeld.

Before the election of the abbot

Johannes Valentin Braun was born on March 15, 1660 in Herzogenburg. His parents were Valentin, the court judge of the Herzogenburg Abbey, and Anna Katharina.

After being dressed in 1779, Braun made his profession on August 15, 1680. From 1676 he studied theology and philosophy in Vienna. He was ordained a priest on February 22nd, 1687 in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. In Lilienfeld he was given the name Sigismund .

After his ordination he was active in various parishes. In April 1692 Sigismund Braun was appointed subprior.

Abbot of the Lilienfeld Monastery

On March 20, 1695, he was elected Abbot Sigismund II as successor to Matthäus Kolweiß and was given a nomination the following day. He was also appointed to the imperial council.

Iron mine

In 1698 Abbot Sigismund had an iron smelter built near Annaberg , which was expanded in 1703. The intended cannon production for the War of the Spanish Succession, however, was extremely lossy. The cannons produced were rejected by the state as unusable. In 1712 all production was shut down at the instigation of the tax authorities.

Construction activity in the pen

The good administration of his predecessors enabled him to develop a lively construction activity. During his tenure, the abbey church's roof turret was removed and a tower was built over the entrance at the western end of the collegiate church. In this he had five bells from the foundation cast works near Annaberg ring. Also at the west entrance he let a gallery move in; an organ and choir stalls were placed on it. In the southwest of the church he had a connecting wing to the imperial wing added, which was later destroyed and not rebuilt. Among other things, he served as a novitiate and a choir room.

Another building measure was the construction of the baroque library in the south wing around 1704. He had the main room fitted out with bookcases by lay brothers of the monastery, which have valuable inlay work. Magnificent stucco and frescoes were attached to the ceiling. These show Cistercian saints, including Bernhard von Clairvaux and Otto von Freising. The learned abbot Sigismund bought many books for the new library. However, these were lost during the later repeal. He also promoted knowledge formation among the monks.

Sickness, death and burial

Between July 1705 and January 1706 Abbot Sigismund was vicar general for the Cistercians in Hungary. At that time, however, he was probably already suffering from a mental illness. The massive expenses for the abbot's projects also resulted in costs that the monastery could no longer cover with its own funds. So it came about that in 1699 the Hungarian Zirc Abbey had to be sold to the Heinrichau Abbey. Abbot Sigismund was appointed abbot of this abbey in 1697.

From 1708 Abbot Sigismund had to hand over the administration of the monastery to economic administrators. Because of his illness, he only stayed in the estate of Kreisbach in the later years of his life. There he died on April 4, 1716 at the age of 56.

The sermon for the funeral was given by the provost and prelate of St. Pölten Abbey, Johannes Michael Führer, under the title “Change of coat of arms of a prelate”. Braun's successor was Chrysostom Wieser .

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• Becziczka, Ambros: Historical and topographical representation of Lilienfeld and its surroundings, (historical and topographical representation of the parishes, monasteries, monasteries, charitable foundations and monuments in Archduke Austria 6), Vienna 1825.
• Hauptmann, Othmar: Lilienfeld Abbey: A guide through its sights, Lilienfeld 1928.
• Maurer, Pius: The history of the Lilienfeld monastery, In: Campililiensia. History, art and culture of the Cistercian monastery Lilienfeld, Lilienfeld 2015, p. 25f.
• Müller, Eugen: Historical outline of the Lilienfeld monastery since 1700: With special consideration of external influences on life in the convent, Lilienfeld 1979, pp. 48–96.
• Müller, Eugen: Profession book of the Cistercian monastery Lilienfeld, (studies and communications on the history of the Benedictine order and its branches 38), special edition, St. Ottilien 1996.
• Mussbacher, Norbert, Lilienfeld Abbey, Vienna 1976.