It seems most probable that the foundation was made by Béla III, King of Hungary (1182), as the monastic domain was formerly royal property.

In 1810 the community was expelled, as were so many other monasteries in the region, but restored in 1814 under Abbot Antonius Dreta; now the abbey prospered.

Zirc had operated practically independently of Heinrichau from 1802, since the Austro-Hungarian authorities had forbidden personal contact between the two.

After World War II and the Soviet takeover of Hungary, many of the monks gradually escaped the country.

Bernát Bérczi served as Prior-Administrator for a year, became abbot in 2018, and was suspended by the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life in 2023.

[4] Cistercian Abbot General Mauro-Giuseppe Lepori was appointed Pontifical Commissioner for Zirc.