Lutheran City Church, Vienna
Encyclopedia
The Lutheran City Church is a Lutheran
church building in Innere Stadt
, the first district of Vienna
.
. It was built in the Renaissance
period and has a neoclassical
facade. There is a triangular pediment above the main entrance. A blind, round arched window is attached to this pediment. It is flanked by two pilaster
s on each side and topped by large triangular pediment. The Lutheran City Church has no steeple, but a bell-storey.
The aisleless church
has a transept-like extension giving it a cruciform floor plan. On all sides of the church there are matronea
. The altarpiece painted by Franz Linder in 1783 is a copy of van Dyck
's painting Christ on the Cross, which is kept in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
just a short walk away. The carved choir stalls next to the altar were installed in 1876. The baptismal font on a scagliola
column was transferred to the church in 1822. The hearts of Empress Anna
, Emperor Matthias
and Emperor Ferdinand II
were originally buried in the building. The marble locking plates of their burial niches are located in the back of the church. Plaques commemorating the Protestant martyr Caspar Tauber and Emperor Joseph II
are attached to the walls.
and widow of King Charles IX
of France. The queen dowager established the monastery probably as an atonement for the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
and spent her final years there. The original construction plans of the Queen’s Monastery are by Pietro Ferabosco. The construction was carried out by Jakob Vivian, the later Architect to the Imperial Court.
In the course of the Josephinist
reforms, the monastery was abandoned in 1782. The same year, both a Lutheran and a Reformed congregation were able to constitute themselves in Vienna due to the Patent of Toleration
of 1781. The parish based in the Lutheran City Church is the oldest of the Lutheran Superintendency of Vienna’s parishes. The Lutheran and the Reformed congregation both bought a part of the former Queen’s Monastery in 1783. The Reformed congregation built the Reformed City Church which was the first building in Vienna intended to be a Protestant church from the beginning. The Lutheran parish purchased the central part of the abandoned monastery including the monastery church. The other parts of the premises were acquired by the banker Johann von Fries who built the Palais Pallavicini
there. The former monastery church was extended and converted into a Lutheran church. The three church towers had to be removed since the Patent of Toleration stated that Protestant churches should not be recognizable as churches from the outside. On 30 November 1783, the Lutheran City Church was inaugurated.
After a few minor structural changes a major modification of the building was carried out by the architect Otto Thienemann in 1876. The facade was redesigned so that the church was recognizable as such from the outside as well. This had been allowed by the Protestant Patent of 1861. In the 19th century, the composers Franz Lachner
and Hermann Graedener
were employed as organists in the Lutheran City Church and the distinguished piano maker Johann Andreas Streicher
released a new service hymnal. The Lutheran City Church had to be rebuilt again in 1907 due to more stringent fire regulations after the Ringtheaterbrand. A direct exit to the street became necessary. The architect Ludwig Schöne turned the interior at 180 degrees by swapping the positions of the organ and the altar – an approach similar to the rebuilding of the neighboring Reformed City Church carried out by the architect Ignaz Sowinski in 1887. In World War II
, the Lutheran City Church suffered severe damage. The facade was completely destroyed by an aircraft bomb in 1945. In 1948, the facade was rebuilt: plain, with bricked up windows and a distinctive stone cross on the smooth facade. This conversion was reversed in 1989 by restoring the neoclassical facade of 1907.
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
church building in Innere Stadt
Innere Stadt
The Innere Stadt is the 1st municipal District of Vienna . The Innere Stadt is the old town of Vienna. Until the city boundaries were expanded in 1850, the Innere Stadt was congruent with the city of Vienna...
, the first district of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
Location and architecture
The Lutheran City Church is located at Dorotheergasse 18, next to the Reformed City Church and opposite of the auction house DorotheumDorotheum
The Dorotheum, established in 1707, is one of the world's oldest auction houses. It has its headquarters in Vienna on the Dorotheergasse and is the largest auction house in both Continental and German-speaking Europe. Besides auctions, the retail sector also plays a major role in Dorotheum's...
. It was built in the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
period and has a neoclassical
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
facade. There is a triangular pediment above the main entrance. A blind, round arched window is attached to this pediment. It is flanked by two pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s on each side and topped by large triangular pediment. The Lutheran City Church has no steeple, but a bell-storey.
The aisleless church
Aisleless church
An Aisleless church is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways either side of the nave separated from the nave by colonnades or arcades, a row of pillars or columns...
has a transept-like extension giving it a cruciform floor plan. On all sides of the church there are matronea
Matroneum
A matroneum in architecture is a gallery on the interior of a building, originally intended to accommodate women ....
. The altarpiece painted by Franz Linder in 1783 is a copy of van Dyck
Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next...
's painting Christ on the Cross, which is kept in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on Ringstraße, it is crowned with an octagonal dome...
just a short walk away. The carved choir stalls next to the altar were installed in 1876. The baptismal font on a scagliola
Scagliola
Scagliola , is a technique for producing stucco columns, sculptures, and other architectural elements that resemble inlays in marble and semi-precious stones...
column was transferred to the church in 1822. The hearts of Empress Anna
Anna of Tyrol
Anna of Tyrol was the wife of Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor. By this marriage she was Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen of Bohemia and Queen of Hungary. Her parents were Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria and Anne Juliana Gonzaga.-Marriage:On 4 December 1611 in Vienna, Matthias and Anna were...
, Emperor Matthias
Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
Matthias of Austria was Holy Roman Emperor from 1612, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608 and King of Bohemia from 1611...
and Emperor Ferdinand II
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...
were originally buried in the building. The marble locking plates of their burial niches are located in the back of the church. Plaques commemorating the Protestant martyr Caspar Tauber and Emperor Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
are attached to the walls.
History
The Lutheran City Church was built as the monastery church of the Catholic Queen’s Monastery (Königinkloster in German) from 1582 to 1583. The Poor Clare monastery was consecrated to Mary, Queen of the Angels. It was founded by Elisabeth of Austria, daughter of Emperor Maximilian IIMaximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian II was king of Bohemia and king of the Romans from 1562, king of Hungary and Croatia from 1563, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from 1564 until his death...
and widow of King Charles IX
Charles IX of France
Charles IX was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death. His reign was dominated by the Wars of Religion. He is best known as king at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Childhood:...
of France. The queen dowager established the monastery probably as an atonement for the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations, followed by a wave of Roman Catholic mob violence, both directed against the Huguenots , during the French Wars of Religion...
and spent her final years there. The original construction plans of the Queen’s Monastery are by Pietro Ferabosco. The construction was carried out by Jakob Vivian, the later Architect to the Imperial Court.
In the course of the Josephinist
Josephinism
Josephinism is the term used to describe the domestic policies of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor . During the ten years in which Joseph was the sole ruler of the Habsburg Monarchy , he attempted to legislate a series of drastic reforms to remodel Austria in the form of the ideal Enlightened state...
reforms, the monastery was abandoned in 1782. The same year, both a Lutheran and a Reformed congregation were able to constitute themselves in Vienna due to the Patent of Toleration
Patent of toleration
The Patent of Toleration was an edict issued in 1781 by the Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph II of Austria. The Patent extended religious freedom to non-Catholic Christians living in Habsburg lands, including Lutherans, Calvinists, and the Greek Orthodox. Specifically, these members of minority faiths...
of 1781. The parish based in the Lutheran City Church is the oldest of the Lutheran Superintendency of Vienna’s parishes. The Lutheran and the Reformed congregation both bought a part of the former Queen’s Monastery in 1783. The Reformed congregation built the Reformed City Church which was the first building in Vienna intended to be a Protestant church from the beginning. The Lutheran parish purchased the central part of the abandoned monastery including the monastery church. The other parts of the premises were acquired by the banker Johann von Fries who built the Palais Pallavicini
Palais Pallavicini
Palais Pallavicini is a palace in the Josefsplatz 5, Vienna, Austria. It was owned by the noble Pallavicini family. It was previously built and owned by the Fries family and is therefore also known as Palais Fries....
there. The former monastery church was extended and converted into a Lutheran church. The three church towers had to be removed since the Patent of Toleration stated that Protestant churches should not be recognizable as churches from the outside. On 30 November 1783, the Lutheran City Church was inaugurated.
After a few minor structural changes a major modification of the building was carried out by the architect Otto Thienemann in 1876. The facade was redesigned so that the church was recognizable as such from the outside as well. This had been allowed by the Protestant Patent of 1861. In the 19th century, the composers Franz Lachner
Franz Lachner
Franz Paul Lachner was a German composer and conductor.Lachner was born in Rain am Lech to a musical family . He studied music with Simon Sechter and Maximilian, the Abbé Stadler. He conducted at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna. In 1834, he became Kapellmeister at Mannheim...
and Hermann Graedener
Hermann Graedener (composer)
Hermann Graedener or Grädener was a German composer, conductor and teacher.-Biography:He was born in Kiel, Germany. He was educated by his father, composer Karl Graedener. He then studied at the Vienna Conservatory. From 1862 he was organist at the Lutheran City Church in Vienna, and from 1864...
were employed as organists in the Lutheran City Church and the distinguished piano maker Johann Andreas Streicher
Johann Andreas Streicher
Johann Andreas Streicher was a German pianist, composer and piano maker. In 1793 he married Nannette Streicher , another piano maker and the daughter of Augsburg piano maker Johann Andreas Stein. In 1794 they moved to Vienna...
released a new service hymnal. The Lutheran City Church had to be rebuilt again in 1907 due to more stringent fire regulations after the Ringtheaterbrand. A direct exit to the street became necessary. The architect Ludwig Schöne turned the interior at 180 degrees by swapping the positions of the organ and the altar – an approach similar to the rebuilding of the neighboring Reformed City Church carried out by the architect Ignaz Sowinski in 1887. In World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Lutheran City Church suffered severe damage. The facade was completely destroyed by an aircraft bomb in 1945. In 1948, the facade was rebuilt: plain, with bricked up windows and a distinctive stone cross on the smooth facade. This conversion was reversed in 1989 by restoring the neoclassical facade of 1907.
External links
- Official website (in German)