Mayerling Castle

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Church of Our Lady of Mount Karmel and Karmel St. Josef in Mayerling

The Mayerling Castle was until 1889 hunting lodge in Mayerling in Alland in Lower Austria , southwest of Vienna . Today it houses the Carmel of St. Joseph the Discalced Carmelites .

The Crown Prince's hunting lodge

Postcard with the view of the hunting lodge before 1889
Tea pavilion

The property, which has been owned by Heiligenkreuz Abbey since 1550, was sold in 1886 by Reinhard August Graf zu Leiningen-Westerburg-Altleiningen to the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne, Crown Prince Rudolf , who converted it into a hunting lodge. On the night of January 30, 1889, he died here together with his lover Mary Vetsera . The details of the circumstances have not yet been clarified, as the Viennese court destroyed key documents and had sworn witnesses to keep quiet. According to the current state of research, Rudolf, who was suffering from depression, first shot his lover, the almost 18-year-old Baroness Vetsera; then he killed himself with a shot in the head.

Contrary to his last will, Rudolf was not buried together with Mary von Vetsera in the cemetery in neighboring Alland , but was buried in the Capuchin Crypt in Vienna , where he rests next to his parents Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth . Mary Vetsera was buried in Heiligenkreuz .

Carmel St. Joseph

Interior of the monastery church in neo-Gothic style

At the instigation of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary , Heinrich Schemfil and Josef Schmalzhofer converted the hunting lodge into a monastery for the Discalced Carmelites in 1889 . The emperor set up a foundation with a capital of 140,000 guilders for the renovation and maintenance of the Carmelites, who were supposed to pray especially for the salvation of Rudolf's soul. The renovation was planned in such a way that the high altar of the newly built neo-Gothic church rises at the place where Crown Prince Rudolf died . The mural above the high altar shows Saint Joseph kneeling on a bank of clouds, surrounded by angels and saints, as he recommends the Habsburg monarchy, symbolized by heraldic shields and crowns, to the Most Holy Trinity . In addition to the church with a side chapel consecrated to St. Joseph and the choir for the nuns , a sacristy , the gate area with consulting rooms , a dormitory with cells and a cloister wall were added to the hunting lodge during the redesign .

The monastery was given to the Discalced Carmelites on December 15, 1889. The new foundation was established by the Sisters of the Carmel in Baumgarten near Vienna. On the Feast of All Saints' Day , the church was consecrated to the patronage of St. Joseph, the patron saint of the dying, and to Our Lady on Mount Carmel . On the following day, All Souls Day , the first soul office for the Crown Prince was celebrated.

In 1940, the Carmelite nuns from Mayerling were by the Nazis from the exam expelled and the monastery was abandoned. The sisters had one day to leave the convent. The monastery grounds and the buildings were initially used by the National Socialists and later by the Red Cross. In 1945 the buildings in Mayerling were badly damaged in fighting. In the same year, sisters from the Baumgarten and Graz convents resumed Carmelite life in Mayerling, and the papal cloister was rebuilt. Ten Carmelites currently live in the convent.

Since parts of the building z. For example, had to be repaired because of wet foundation walls, mold, loose masonry and falling plaster and the sisters themselves had to take care of the maintenance of the building, the convent of the Carmel of St. Joseph, with the support of the Cistercians of the Heiligenkreuz Abbey, started a project “Save the Carmel Mayerling ". Work started in April 2014 and was completed in 2017. In 2014 a visitor center was also opened. This, the restored tea pavilion and some side rooms with objects from the 19th century now form the exhibition of the Museum Altes Jagdschloss Mayerling. The tea pavilion was covered with wooden shingles by the sisters in cooperation with the monument office, as it corresponds to the original condition.

literature

Web links

Commons : Schloss Mayerling  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

To Castle:

To the monastery:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Website about the castle or Karmel Mayerling
  2. ↑ www.karmel-mayerling.org t ( Memento from August 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ architektenlexikon.at
  4. ↑ Tagesnachrichten - Vienna, April 17th - Mayerling Castle (bottom left column) in: Volksblatt für Stadt und Land, Vol. 20, No. 16, April 18, 1889, p. 2
  5. ↑ Homepage
  6. ↑ https://diepresse.com/home/panorama/oesterreich/5114869/Sanierung-nach-127-Jahren_Fliesswasser-fuer-MayerlingSchwestern
  7. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from August 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

Coordinates: 48 ° 2 ′ 49 ″  N , 16 ° 5 ′ 54 ″  E