The New Cathedral (german: Neuer Dom), also known as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (german: Mariä-Empfängnis-Dom; Mariendom), is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

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 ...

. The

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church is the largest, though not the tallest church in Austria.

History

Construction plans were started in 1855 by Bishop

Franz-Josef Rudigier Franz Josef Rudigier (7 April 1811 – 29 November 1884) was an Austrian Roman Catholic prelate and served as the Bishop of Linz from his appointment in 1853 until his death. Much of his local diocese grew due to his vigorous in promoting evang ...

. The first stone was laid on 1 May 1862—an event solemnised by the performance of

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Ger ...

's Festive Cantata ''Preiset den Herrn''. In 1924 Bishop Johannes Maria Gföllner consecrated the finished building as the ''Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception''. The plans, drawn by the master builder of the Archdiocese of Cologne,

Vincenz Statz Vincenz Statz (9 April 1819, Cologne – † 21 August 1898, Cologne) was a Neo-Gothic German architect, mainly active in the Rhineland. Bibliography (in German) * Pfarrgemeinderat Neuss-Grefrath (Hrsg.): ''Festschrift zum 125-jährigen Ju ...

, were made in the French high

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style. With 20,000 seats, the cathedral is the largest (130 meters long, and the ground 5,170 square meters), but not the highest, church in

. The originally-planned, higher spire was not approved, because in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

at the time, no building was allowed to be taller than the South Tower of the St. Stephen's Cathedral 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 ...

. At 135 m, the New Cathedral is two meters shorter than the Viennese cathedral. Particularly noteworthy are the cathedral's

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows. The most famous is the Linz Window, which depicts the history of Linz. The windows also contain portraits of the various sponsors of the church's construction. During the Second World War some windows, particularly in the southern part of the cathedral, were damaged. Instead of restoring the original windows, they have been replaced with windows displaying modern art. Also noteworthy is the nativity scene in the church burial vault, with its figures made by S. Osterrieder, and the display of the regalia of Bishop Rudigier.

Politics

In October 2006 the Catholic Church added a plaquet to the commemorative wood cut for

Engelbert Dollfuß Engelbert Dollfuß (alternatively: ''Dolfuss'', ; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian clerical fascist politician who served as Chancellor of Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and Agriculture, he ...

at the New Cathedral, which caused excitement in the ÖVP. In the plaque the church, by resolution of the Austrian Conference of Catholic Bishops, distances itself from the original cut and proclaims the future abstention from party politics. Dollfuß as acting

Chancellor of Austria The chancellor of the Republic of Austria () is the head of government of the Republic of Austria. The position corresponds to that of Prime Minister in several other parliamentary democracies. Current officeholder is Karl Nehammer of the Aus ...

in 1933 eliminated the parliament over formal irregularities. This caused the

Austrian Civil War The Austrian Civil War (german: Österreichischer Bürgerkrieg), also known as the February Uprising (german: Februarkämpfe), was a few days of skirmishes between Austrian government and socialist forces between 12 and 16 February 1934, in Aust ...

and led to a

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship a ...

.Daily paper "Heute" of 2008-11-11

Gallery

File:Linz Dom Fenster 09 img01.jpg File:Linzer Dom - Fenster - Immaculata.jpg File:Linz Dom Fenster 09 img02.jpg File:Linzer Dom - Fenster - Barbara.jpg File:Linz Dom Fenster 09 img03.jpg File:Linz Dom Fenster 09 img04.jpg

References

*The information in this article is based on that in its German equivalent.

External links

Homepage Mariendom
{{Authority control Roman Catholic cathedrals in Austria Tourist attractions in Linz Gothic Revival church buildings in Austria 1924 establishments in Austria Roman Catholic churches in Linz