Lutheran City Church, Vienna | |
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48°12′24″N 16°22′07″E / 48.206533°N 16.36848°ECoordinates: 48°12′24″N 16°22′07″E / 48.206533°N 16.36848°E | |
Location |
Dorotheergasse 18, A-1010 Vienna |
Country | Austria |
Denomination | Lutheranism |
Website | Official Website |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Architect(s) | Pietro Ferabosco, Jakob Vivian |
Architectural type | Church |
Style | Renaissance |
Completed | 1583 |
Administration | |
Diocese | Lutheran Superintendency of Vienna |
Clergy | |
Pastor(s) | Ines Knoll, Wilfried Fussenegger |
Laity | |
Organist(s) | Erzsébet Windhager-Geréd |
Music group(s) | C.O.h.R. |
The Lutheran City Church is a Lutheran church building in Innere Stadt, the first district of Vienna.
The Lutheran City Church is located at Dorotheergasse 18, next to the Reformed City Church and opposite of the auction house Dorotheum. 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 pilasters 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.
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 II 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.