Propstei Zwettl, Former provost church in Zwettl, Austria

Propstei Zwettl is a former collegiate foundation on the Propsteiberg south of Zwettl's old town. Its Romanesque granite-block church, first documented as the parish church in 1132, has a rectangular nave and a recessed choir under one saddle roof, a lower round apse, and a three-storey west facade crowned by a Romanesque gable turret. The complex also includes the adjoining Michaelskapelle, a cemetery with a Romanesque charnel house, the provost's building and the former rectory known as the Kasten.

The Kuenringer family, an influential ministerial clan, founded the church at the end of the 11th century on Propsteigberg. Zwettl received its first parish church status in 1132, highlighting the importance of this foundation for the town's early development.

The church's full title was "zum heiligen Erlöser im Liechtental" (Holy Redeemer in the Light Valley) during its collegiate years, 1483 to 1751. After 1783 it served only as a cemetery church with Mass on All Souls' Day, was deconsecrated after war damage from 1946, and was reconsecrated in 1967. The sandstone crucifixion group stands at the end of the Kreuzweg before the complex.

The complex sits on the Propsteiberg hill south of Zwettl's old town, reached on foot via the Stations of the Cross path that ends at the sandstone crucifixion group. The church, Michaelskapelle, Karner, Propsteigebäude and Kasten stand close together, so the whole grounds can be covered in a short walk. The site is a listed monument; the church was reconsecrated in 1967 after war damage.

Since 1751, the title of Provost of Zwettl has been awarded only as an honorary distinction after Empress Maria Theresa appropriated the institution's properties. This shift shows how political power changes affected even local religious structures.