St. George's Cathedral in

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...

(german: Kathedrale St. Georg) is the cathedral of the Military Ordinariate of Austria and a

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

. It is located inside the castle,

Burg Wiener Neustadt Burg Wiener Neustadt is a castle in the Austrian city of Wiener Neustadt in Lower Austria. It is the location of the Theresian Military Academy, which was founded in 1751. The site is above sea level. History The first castle at Wiener Neustadt w ...

. The church, begun in 1440 on the west side of the castle, was commissioned from the architect Peter von Pusica by

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III (German: ''Friedrich III,'' 21 September 1415 – 19 August 1493) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death. He was the fourth king and first emperor of the House of Habsburg. He was the penultimate emperor to be crown ...

. At the end of the work the church was dedicated to St. Mary and consecrated in 1460. In 1479 the

Order of the Knights of St. George Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

established their headquarters in Wiener Neustadt, and the patron of the church became

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

. After the abolition of this chivalric order in 1600, the church was entrusted first to the

Cistercians The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

and later the

Piarists The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the ...

. In 1608 and 1616 two fires damaged the castle and the church, which were repaired by initiative of Maximilian III. With the foundation of the

Theresian Military Academy The Theresian Military Academy (german: Theresianische Militärakademie, TherMilAk) is a military academy in Austria, where the Austrian Armed Forces train their officers. Founded in 1751, the academy is located in the castle of Wiener Neustadt ...

on December 14, 1751, the church was closely tied to the fate of the castle as the headquarters of the military school. The castle and church were completely destroyed in bombing during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on March 12, 1945, but reconstruction began the following year, to be completed only in 1958. Since 1963 the church has been home to the Military Ordinariate of Austria, as a result of which it was elevated to the status of cathedral. On 13 December 1967 it also became a minor basilica.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George's Cathedral, Wiener Neustadt Roman Catholic cathedrals in Austria Buildings and structures in Wiener Neustadt Roman Catholic churches completed in 1460 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1958 Cathedrals of military ordinariates 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Austria

See also

References