Ulrich Hackel

Ulrich Hackel , also Ulrich Hackl (born October 1, 1551 in Vienna ; † November 25, 1607 there ) was an Austrian Roman Catholic clergyman, Cistercian and abbot of Zwettl Abbey .

life and work

Hackel grew up as the son of wealthy Protestant parents in Vienna. He was converted to the Catholic faith by the Jesuits at the age of 23, ordained a priest in 1577, was canon and from 1579 pastor in the citizen's hospital . From 1581 to 1586 he was provost of the provost of Zwettl . In 1586 he was appointed abbot of Zwettl Monastery by Bishop Melchior Khlesl (succeeding Johannes Rueff ).

Since he was not a Cistercian, he decided to make up for a novitiate under the direction of the Zwettler prior Johann Zehentner. During the novitiate he was appointed representative of the prelate class in the Lower Austrian provincial estates . On February 21, 1588, he made his solemn profession before Abbot Johannes Rueff in Heiligenkreuz and was confirmed and infuled as abbot . Rueff was a professed monk of Melk , 1580–1585 himself abbot of Zwettl and only then in Heiligenkreuz; neither in Zwettl nor in the Wienerwaldkloster had he contributed to the uplifting of the monastic decline.

Now Hackel, the newcomer to religious life, began to carry out exemplary reform work in Zwettl with the help of his prior Zehentner. He persuaded the convent to exchange the Benedictine habit , which had become common in Zwettl, for the Cistercian one. He committed the monk priests to higher discipline in the celebration of mass, more frequent confession and a deeper spiritual life. Young monks were trained according to the Benedictine Rule and better looked after in their development. Since many of the incorporated parishes of the monastery were headed by diocesan priests who were cohabiting and some of whom had become Lutheran , Hackel had to face many conflicts. The Marian pilgrimage to Maria Rafingsberg was illegally handed over to a Protestant preacher in 1586, who closed the shrine to pilgrims. Many similar conflicts plagued the abbot.

As a member of the Niederösterreichisches Landhauses (the representation of the estates) Hackel lived mostly in Vienna and was a friend and advisor to Bishop Khlesl during his counter-Reformation work. In 1595 the Abbot General of the Cistercians, Edmond de la Croix, who had traveled to Vienna, appointed him to visit the Austrian Cistercian monasteries. From 1597 he held the title of councilor (on the Herrenbank) and held the position of governor-administrator until his death. He supported numerous church institutions with considerable financial resources, including his own monastery, which he consolidated economically.

He died in Vienna, but was buried in Zwettl.

literature

• Heinrich Ritter von Zeißberg:  Hackel, Ulrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1879, p. 293 f.
• Hermann Riedl: Ulrich Hackel, Abbot of Zwettl. A prelate of the Counter Reformation . Dissertation, Innsbruck 1935. http://www.zisterzienserlexikon.de/wiki/Riedl,_Hermann
• Franz Xaver Schweickhardt: Representation of the Archduchy of Austria under the Ens: through a comprehensive description of all ruins, castles, lordships, cities, markets, villages, groups . Vol. 3. Wallishausser, Vienna 1839, pp. 79–85.
• Johann Tomaschek: Cistercian Monastery Zwettl , ed. by Joachim Klinger. Christian Brandstätter, Vienna 1989.

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann V. Rueff / Ruoff	Abbot of Zwettl Monastery 1586–1607	Johann VI. Nines