St. Francis of Assisi Church (german: Kirche zum heiligen Franz von Assisi), also known as the Emperor's Jubilee Church (german: Kaiserjubiläumskirche) and the Mexico Church (german: Mexikokirche), is a

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

-style

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church 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 ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Built between 1898 and 1910, it was consecrated in 1913. It is located on the

Mexikoplatz Mexikoplatz (Mexico Square) is a square in the Austrian capital Vienna. It is located in the city's 2nd district, Leopoldstadt, near the banks of the Danube, on the southwestern end of the Reichsbrücke (Empire Bridge), which links Leopoldstadt wi ...

in Vienna's Second District,

Leopoldstadt Leopoldstadt (; bar, Leopoidstod, "Leopold-Town") is the 2nd municipal district of Vienna (german: 2. Bezirk) in Austria. there are 103,233 inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau (20th distr ...

,''Vienna's English-speaking Catholic Community has a new home''
(Austrian Times, 8 January 2009) and is administered by the

Order of the Holy Trinity , logo = Trynitarze.svg , logo_size = 150px , logo_caption = Flag of the Trinitarians , image = Signumordinis.gif , image_size = 200px , caption = Mosaic of Jesus Christ us ...

History

The construction of the church celebrated the 50th anniversary of the reign of 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 Grand title of the Emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg m ...

.''Wien-Leopoldstadt''
by Josef König & Hans König (Sutton Verlag GmbH, 2003) A competition was held to select the design and was won by architect

Victor Luntz Victor Luntz, (8 March 1840, Ybbs an der Donau - 12 October 1903, Vienna) was an Austrian architect and Professor. Life and work His father, Andreas Luntz, was a local official. In 1847, the family moved to Vienna where, from 1856 to 1860, he st ...

. The four-bay, basilica-like brick building was intended as a garrison church; designed in the Rhenish-Romanesque style, its three red-tiled towers are visible several kilometres away. The church, which is directly situated near the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

, is now home to the Vienna English Speaking Catholic Community (VESCC) who have held weekly masses at the church since moving there in 2009. The

(Mexico Square), formerly known as Erzherzog-Karl-Platz (Archduke-Karl-Square), commemorates the fact that Mexico was the only country outside the Soviet Union to protest against the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

of Austria to Nazi Germany.

Elisabethkapelle

The

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

-style Elisabethkapelle (Elizabeth Chapel) is located on the left of the church next to the choir. It is 13.5 meters high and 10 metres wide. The octagonal chapel is modeled on the Palatine Chapel in the

Aachen Cathedral Aachen Cathedral (german: Aachener Dom) is a Roman Catholic church in Aachen, Germany and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen. One of the oldest cathedrals in Europe, it was constructed by order of Emperor Charlemagne, who was buri ...

, which was itself modelled on the

Cappella Palatina The Palatine Chapel ( it, Cappella Palatina) is the royal chapel of the Norman Palace in Palermo, Sicily. This building is a mixture of Byzantine, Norman and Fatimid architectural styles, showing the tricultural state of Sicily during the 12t ...

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

.''Tribute to a murdered Empress''
by Liselotte Schwab (

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, 2008) In 1898, the Italian anarchist

Luigi Lucheni Luigi Lucheni (April 22, 1873 – October 19, 1910) was an Italian anarchist and the assassin of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Early life Luigi Lucheni was born Louis Luccheni in Paris on April 22, 1873. His father, unknown, and his mother, ...

assassinated the wife of Emperor

Empress Elisabeth of Austria Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria (24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898) was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I on 24 April 1854 until her assassination in 1898. Elisabeth was ...

(commonly referred to as Sisi). To commemorate her, the Elisabethkapelle was established. It was financed through donations from the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

, as Empress Elisabeth was the first Protector of the Red Cross. Because of the Red Cross's large donation of 348,348 crowns, the chapel was decorated with gold mosaics rather than frescoes, and the walls were covered in marble rather than stucco. The mosaics were designed by Secession artist Carl Ederer. On the vault of the chancel there is a large mosaic of Saint

Elizabeth of Hungary Elizabeth of Hungary (german: Heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen, hu, Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet, sk, Svätá Alžbeta Uhorská; 7 July 1207 – 17 November 1231), also known as Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, or Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia, ...

. The chapel was completed in 1907 and consecrated on 10 June 1908.

References

Gallery

File:Wien - Mexikoplatz.JPG, The church from the air, located at the southern end of the Mexikoplatz. File:Wien - Mexikokirche, Elisabethkapelle, Mosaikbild.JPG, Detail from the ceiling of the Elisabethkapelle. File:Wien Franz-von-Assisi-Kirche Innen Hauptaltar 3.JPG, alt=The badalchin of the main altar., The

baldachin A baldachin, or baldaquin (from it, baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over h ...

of the main altar. File:Mexikokirche Sissikapelle.jpg, Detail of the main ceiling. File:St. Francis of Assisi Church, Vienna.jpg File:Franz von Assisi Kirche-DSC 0004w.jpg, alt=St. Francis of Assisi Church in Vienna seen from Reichsbrücke., View on the church from bridge Reichsbrücke. File:Wien - Mexikokirche, innen.JPG, Indoor panorama

External links

Vienna English Speaking Catholic Community
(VESCC)

(

The World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic churches in Vienna 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Austria Art Nouveau architecture in Vienna Roman Catholic churches completed in 1913 Art Nouveau church buildings in Austria Trinitarian Order 1913 establishments in Austria