St. George's Cathedral in

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; Lower_Austria.html" ;"title=".e. Lower Austria">.e. Lower Austria , ) 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 administr ...

() is the cathedral of the

Military Ordinariate of Austria The Military Ordinariate of Austria (, ) is a Latin Church military ordinariate of the Catholic Church. Immediately exempt to the Holy See, it provides pastoral care to Catholics serving in the Austrian Armed Forces and their families. Histo ...

and a

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

. 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 language, German: ''Friedrich III,'' 21 September 1415 – 19 August 1493) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death in 1493. He was the penultimate emperor to be Coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor, crowned by the p ...

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

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

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

Cistercians The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, 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 Benedict, as well as the contri ...

and later the

Piarists The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools (), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the Catholic Church founded in 1617 by Spanish priest Joseph Calasanz ...

. 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 (, 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 in Lower Austria. History The Th ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 Buildings and structures completed in 1460 Churches completed in the 1460s Roman Catholic churches completed in 1958 Cathedrals of military ordinariates 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Austria

See also

References