The Sisi Chapel (german: Sisi-Kapelle) is a
Gothic Revival-style chapel located in the
Sievering
Sievering is a suburb of Vienna and part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna. Sievering was created in 1892 out of the two erstwhile independent suburbs Untersievering and Obersievering. These still exist as Katastralgemeinden.
For many y ...
area of the Viennese district of
Döbling
Döbling () is the 19th District in the city of Vienna, Austria (german: 19. Bezirk, Döbling, Doebling). It is located on the north end from the central districts, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing. Döbling has some heavily populate ...
near the Vienna Woods (''Wienerwald'').
History
The Sisi Chapel was built on the occasion of the marriage of
Empress Elisabeth and Emperor
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...
on April 24, 1854, in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. Johann Carl Freiherr von Sothen commissioned architect Johan A. Garben to design the chapel and construct it in ''Am Himmel'', a popular recreational area between the Sievering area (Döbling district) and the Vienna Woods. The chapel was intended to serve both as a memorial to the historic event and a gravesite for Freiherr von Sothen and his wife Franziska. The chapel was erected between 1854 and 1856 according to the plans of Garben by the city builder Josef Kastan. The chapel was consecrated to the patron saints of the Imperial couple on July 31, 1856:
Saint Elisabeth
Elizabeth (also spelled Elisabeth; Hebrew: אֱלִישֶׁבַע / אֱלִישָׁבַע "My God has sworn", Standard Hebrew: '' Elišévaʿ'' / ''Elišávaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew: ''ʾĔlîšéḇaʿ'' / ''ʾĔlîšāḇaʿ''; Greek: Ἐλισ ...
,
Saint Francis of Assisi, and
Saint Joseph.
In the 20th century, the chapel decayed as a result of atmospheric action, contaminant loads, and acts of war. To prevent vandalism, the altarpiece was dismantled. In 1997, the "Caucus Wood" acquired a large part of the Am Himmel area and purchased the chapel for 3,500 Euros from Caritas in 2002. The Caucus then initiated the renovation of the chapel as part of the overall revitalization of the area.
After several years of work, which required a total of 1.1 million Euros partially financed by the Vienna Old Town Preservation Fund, the chapel was completed in 2005. During the renovation, the inner room was reshaped to give a tangible experience of how nature and culture are interrelated. To accomplish this, a new glass roof was mounted. In addition, fourteen monitors recessed in the wall stage a kind of ordeal suffered by nature through the interventions of man.
References
* The information in this article is based on a translation of its German equivalent.
External links
Am Himmel
{{coord, 48, 15, 34, N, 16, 18, 38, E, region:AT-9_type:landmark, display=title
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1856
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Austria
Roman Catholic churches in Vienna
Buildings and structures in Döbling
Gothic Revival church buildings in Austria
Empress Elisabeth of Austria