The Unterheiligenstadt Parish Church (Unterheiligenstädter Pfarrkirche) is a Roman-Catholic parish church in the suburb of Unterheiligenstadt, Heiligenstadt in the 19th district of Vienna, Döbling. It is dedicated to Mary.
History edit
The construction of the Karl-Marx-Hof created the impetus to build a church in the Heiligenstädter Straße. In 1931, the Church bought a piece of land with an old, one-storey house where the parish church now stands. Although the house had already been rendered unliveable by pervasive damp, the kitchen and one room were transformed into a chapel dedicated to the Iberian Mother of God from Moscow. Following the events of 1934, the new, authoritarian city authorities transformed a café in the Heiligenstädter Straße (number 82) into a house of worship. In 1939 however, it was taken over as a meeting place for Nazis. The Unterheiligenstadt Parish Church’s renaissance did not begin until 27 October 1945. On this date, a wooden structure was erected where the church now stands. The construction of a permanent church was made possible through the purchase of the adjoining plots. The parish church was designed by architects C.A. and W. Müller and built between 1965 and 1966. It was dedicated on 8 December 1967 to Mary, Mother of Grace. The wooden structure had also borne this epithet.
The building edit
The Unterheiligenstadt Parish Church is a simple, modern construction. It features a copper statue of Christ, a baptismal font and cross that are the work of Paul Peschke, and antique glass windows, which were produced by the building’s architects.
References edit
- Klusacek, Christine; Stimmer, Kurt: Döbling. Vom Gürtel zu den Weinbergen. Wien 1988 (in German)
External links edit
- Pfarre Unterheiligenstadt (in German)
48°14′49″N 16°21′42″E / 48.24694°N 16.36167°E
Category:Buildings and structures in Döbling Category:Churches in Vienna