LEUBUS, ABBEY OF

Cistercian monastery near Wohlau, Silesia, Diocese of Breslau. It was founded in 1150 as a Polish Benedictine monastery and was taken over by cistercians from pforta in 1163. In about 1175 the Romanesque church was consecrated. The Gothic monastery church and prince's chapel were constructed between 1300 and 1340; and the baroque renovation, distinguished by the magnificent paintings of Michael Willmann (d. 1706), dates from the period, 1695 to 1740, after the destruction of the monastery by the Swedes (1632). The harmony of its style and the grand scale on which it was built (it measured almost 800 feet across the front) make it a remarkable example of German baroque. The hall of princes and the library with their magnificent paintings and stucco work are especially important. Leubus was a significant cultural center and as such contributed to the Germanization of Silesia. Several foundations were made from Leubus: Mogila near Cracow (1222), Heinrichau (1227), and Kamenz in Silesia (1239). The monks splendidly illuminated their manuscripts, antiphonals, graduals, and missals (13th and 14th century, now in the city library of Breslau) and influenced, to a great extent, the development of Silesian engraving. In 1810 the monastery was suppressed by King Frederick William III of Prussia and became a mental institution. Since 1945 the monastery and church (which were plundered) have stood empty.

Bibliography: Sources. j. g. bÜsching, Die Urkunden des Klosters Leubus (Breslau 1821). w. wattenbach, Monumenta Lubensia (Breslau 1861). Literature. f. hanus, Die ältere Geschichte der Zisterzienser-Abtei Leubus in Schlesien bis zur Mitte des 14. Jahrhunderts (New York 1947). g. grundmann, Schlesische Barockkirchen und Klöster (Lindau 1958).

[a. schneider]