The New Cathedral (), also known as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (), is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. The

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

church is the largest church building in Austria.

History

Construction plans were started in 1855 by Bishop Franz-Josef Rudigier. The first stone was laid on 1 May 1862—an event solemnised by the performance of

Anton Bruckner Joseph Anton Bruckner (; ; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his Symphonies by Anton Bruckner, symphonies and sacred music, which includes List of masses by Anton Bruckner, Masses, Te Deum (Br ...

'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 The Archdiocese of Cologne (; ) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. History At an early date Christianity came to Cologne with the Roman soldiers ...

, Vincenz Statz, were made in the French high Gothic style. With room for 20,000 people, 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, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

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

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. At 134.6 m, the New Cathedral is two meters shorter than the Viennese cathedral. Particularly noteworthy are the cathedral's

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

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, the display of the regalia of Bishop Rudigier and the great organ (so called "Rudigierorgel") built in 1968 by the famous Danish organ builder

Marcussen & Søn Marcussen & Søn, also known as Marcussen and previously as Marcussen & Reuter, is a Denmark, Danish firm of pipe organ builders. They were one of the first firms to go back to classical organ-building techniques, and have been producing tracker ...

Politics

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

Engelbert Dollfuß Engelbert Dollfuss (alternatively Dollfuß; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian politician and dictator who served as chancellor of Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and Agriculture, he ascended t ...

at the New Cathedral, which caused excitement in the

ÖVP The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

. 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 Austria, officially the federal chancellor of the Republic of Austria (), is the head of government of the Austria, Republic of Austria. List of chancellors of Austria, Twenty-nine people have served as chancellor. The curre ...

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

Austrian Civil War The Austrian Civil War () of 12–15 February 1934, also known as the February Uprising () or the February Fights (), was a series of clashes in the First Austrian Republic between the forces of the authoritarian Fatherland Front (Austria), rig ...

and led to a

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

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

Bells

The cathedral has seven swinging bells hung in the tower, placed on 2 levels, and were all cast by Anton Gugg in 1901. The lower level contains the largest bell or bourdon known as "Immaculata" and it weighs 8 tons while the upper level contains the rest of the bells. The bourdon used to hang on the upper floor next to the other bells, but just a year after the bell system was completed it had to be moved down one floor due to the tower swaying too much to be relocated. The 3 largest bells also serve as clock bells; Peter chimes every quarter hour while Joseph and the bourdon Immaculata in succession chime each the number of a full hour. In Austria, the bells are always numbered from largest to smallest, Bell 1 is always the

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

or bourdon.

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, Linz Neuer Dom Innen Umbau-01

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 MariendomHomepage Rudigierorgel
{{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 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Austria