ABSTRACT
In 1809 Napoleon dissolved the Teutonic Order in the German territories; but it survived in the Austrian Empire where it was reorganized between 1834 and 1840. The institution of the nuns of the Teutonic Order was re-established in Tyrol with a mother house at Lanegg, and in Silesia with the houses in Freudenthal and Troppau founded between 1837 and 1841. The nuns of the Teutonic Order first served in the military hospital at their mother house at Lanegg in 1859. During the Third Crusade the brotherhood of the Teutonic Order was founded to take care of the sick and pilgrims. In 1236-37 the pope had agreed to the union of the Teutonic Order with the so-called Swordbrothers, and the Order thereby gained influence in Livonia. Teutonic knights also fought against the Turks in Crete in 1668, and they served and fought with the imperial forces to defend the Empire on various fronts.
