Leopold Wackarž, Abbot of Vyšší Brod (1867 – 1901) and General Abbot of the Cistercian Order (1891 – 1901)

It was not only his extraordinarily long abbacy but also his skill and activities that made him the greatest abbot of the Vyšší Brod Monastery. He came from Horní Planá / Oberplan, the birthplace of the famous novelist Adalbert Stifter. His busy construction activities included the monastery, its the property, and especially the incorporated parishes; to name them in detail would exceed our space limitations. In 1859 the Austrian-Hungarian Cistercian Congregation was established, which involved all Cistercian monasteries of the Monarchy. In the period 1875 – 1890 Abbot Leopold Wackar was its Vicar General. In 1891 he was, at the age of 82, elected Abbot General of the Cistercian Order, which at that time included Trappist monasteries although they became an independent order under his rule. In 1900 he resigned from his office as Abbot General at the General Chapter. When he died on the 13th December 1901 he had attained, as far as records show, the highest age among the monks in Vyšší Brod, ruled the longest time among the abbots of the monastery and was the only abbot of Vyšší Brod to have been Abbot General. This last achievement was reached only once more by a Vyšší Brod monk: Father Dr. Matthäus Quatember, who was the Abbot General from 1950 to 1953.