Lilienfeld Abbey was founded in 1202 by Leopold VI, Duke of Austria and Styria, as a daughter house of Heiligenkreuz Abbey. Successive abbots acted as councillors to the rulers of Austria, and the abbey became wealthy as a result of this valuable connection.
Abbot Matthew Kollweis (1650-1695) turned the monastery into a fortress during the Turkish advance against Vienna in 1683, installing a garrison and giving shelter to a large number of fugitives.
In the 17th century the medieval buildings were extended by Baroque additions. In the first half of the 18th century the tower, library and church interior and furnishings were also refurbished in the Baroque style.
The abbey was suppressed by Emperor Joseph II in 1789, but although the library, archives and portable valuables were removed, on the death of Joseph II it was reopened by Emperor Leopold II as early as 1790.
In 1810 much of the abbey was destroyed in a fire, but was rebuilt under Abbot Johann Ladislaus Pyrker, who later became the Patriarch of Venice (1820-26) and eventually Archbishop of Eger.
As part of his endowment, Duke Leopold VI, Duke of Austria, granted the Abbey lands in and around Pfaffstätten, between Baden and Gumpoldskirchen, upon which the monks erected a walled estate. This estate, the Lilienfelderhof, comprising a gothic church, manor house, and numerous other buildings, was acquired in 2006 by the Kartause Gaming Private Foundation via a 99-year leasehold. The property and its vineyards are currently in the process of being restored and revitalised.
References:Goryōkaku (五稜郭) (literally, 'five-point fort') is a star fort in the Japanese city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido. The fortress was completed in 1866. It was the main fortress of the short-lived Republic of Ezo.
Goryōkaku was designed in 1855 by Takeda Ayasaburō and Jules Brunet. Their plans was based on the work of the French architect Vauban. The fortress was completed in 1866, two years before the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It is shaped like a five-pointed star. This allowed for greater numbers of gun emplacements on its walls than a traditional Japanese fortress, and reduced the number of blind spots where a cannon could not fire.
The fort was built by the Tokugawa shogunate to protect the Tsugaru Strait against a possible invasion by the Meiji government.
Goryōkaku is famous as the site of the last battle of the Boshin War.