Mission House St. Gabriel

Mission house St. Gabriel in Maria Enzersdorf, Lower Austria

The Mission House St. Gabriel (named after the Archangel Gabriel ) is a mission house of the Steyler missionaries in Maria Enzersdorf south of Vienna .

history

In 1889, on the initiative of Fr. Arnold Janssen, on the outskirts of Maria Enzersdorf, the Steyler Missionaries SVD was the second mission house St. Gabriel . The most important Austrian mission establishment was also the home of scientific explorers who undertook ethnographic expeditions to South America, Central India and Central Africa. In 1925 the mission house, originally planned as a school, had 650 residents of the order. A mission ethnographic museum was set up next to the training center. In 1941 the mission house was expropriated as part of the National Socialist monastery tower and incorporated into the Ostmark aircraft engine works ; it was successfully restored after the war.

A few years after the war there were also classes from the Bundesrealgymnasium and the Höhere Technische Lehranstalt Mödling (at that time still the Bundesgewerbeschule ).

Since the offspring from German-speaking countries fell sharply in the 1990s , some businesses, such as the printing and bookbinding operations in the mission house, had to be closed. The university was also closed in 2002. Since the library was no longer required for study purposes, the 140,000 volumes were taken over by the St. Augustin Mission House .

One of the most famous fathers was Martin Gusinde , who went on research trips to the Tierra del Fuego Indians, the Congo and New Guinea .

At peak times up to 600 religious lived in the mission house. In the 2010s the occupancy dropped to about 45 religious. In order to fully utilize the 30,000 square meter area, a Caritas dormitory was first set up for refugees, and in 2018 a seminar and event center with a hotel.

Holy Spirit Church

The church is remarkable for its ornate stained glass windows and rich mosaic decorations.

Building history

In 1892 Father August Theisen's building plans for a neo-Romanesque church were submitted to the Baden district administration. After eight years of construction, the Holy Spirit Church was consecrated at Pentecost in 1900 by the missionary bishop Johann Baptist Anzer. Father Alfred Fräbel designed the organ case on the west gallery, the confessionals, the Theresa altar, the pulpit (both were removed in 1979) and the five-flame chandelier in the choir.

In a second construction phase from 1912 to 1914, three bays of the nave and the towers were built. The colored glass windows were made in 1914. The construction management was in the hands of the architect and builder Sepp Hubatsch . In 1944 the church suffered severe bomb damage. 1954–1957 the building was renovated, the destroyed windows were renewed, the mosaic "God's Spirit hovers over the waters" was created in the apse. In the course of the liturgical reform , the high altar was dismantled in 1964. Johann Petermair rebuilt the crypt in 1967. In 1979 the church was redesigned based on designs by the architect Heimo Widtmann (Graz); the execution was carried out by the Graz architects Edda Gellner, Fritz Neuhold and Karl Raimund Lorenz. In 1980 Cardinal Franz König opened the renovated church with the consecration of the altar, on May 9, 1982 the new Rieger organ in the apse was inaugurated.

Furnishing

The new table-shaped altar and the altar in the transept are composed of older altar parts. Three traffic lights with the eternal light were designed by Father Alfred Fräbel.

The baroque image of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit is a gift. It is said to have been given to St. Gabriel by the Lazarists who were extremely helpful in founding the house. It is said to have belonged to the Viennese Oratorian Monastery , which was closed by Josef II in 1780 . The artist is unknown. A new version is the gilded halo. The canopy is that of the earlier pulpit.

In the choir there is a floor mosaic from 1900 depicting Noe's Ark, the five parts of the world and the symbols of the four evangelists, as well as the signs of the zodiac and the planets. In front of the chapels of the apse there are dates of the history of the mission house in the floor. The red marble columns in the choir come from the Vienna Ring Theater, which burned down in 1881 . The mosaic in the apse with a theological image program by Father Albert Rohner was completed in 1957.

Stained glass

The oldest windows, made in Steyl and St. Gabriel, which survived the Second World War undamaged, are in the choir room. They show the four apostles Andrew, Peter, Paul and John. The windows in the chapels of the apse show other cartridges from the Steyler Mission Society. All other windows were destroyed in the world war. Their replacement was designed by E. Bauernfeind based on image programs by Fathers Albert Rohner and Johann Kraus. The windows of the uppermost region in the choir and nave are dedicated to the subject of the Holy Spirit. The rosette in the north transept shows the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the one in the south transept shows the symbols of the seven sacraments.

In the double arched window of the transept you can see the Africa missionaries Petrus Claver and Raimund Lullus (from south to north), Jean de Brebeuf and Franz Solanus represent America, Rupert and Virgil represent Europe. On the north side, the first window reminds of Cyril and Method, then Petrus Perboyre (China) and Johannes de Britto (India), Petrus Chanel and Johannes Baptista, a missionary who was martyred in Japan.

The windows in the lower part of the nave show the eight Beatitudes. The round windows above the gallery show the physical works of mercy in the south and the spiritual works of mercy in the north. In the center of the rose window above the main portal are the symbols of the Trinity and the dove.

Organs

Kaufmann organ

The first, relatively modest organ with mechanical playing and stop action , first installed in a chapel in St. Gabriel in 1893, came from the Viennese organ builder Johann Marcell Kaufmann (1849–1906). It has mechanical cone chests and a double-fold magazine bellows with scoop bellows, to which an electric wind system was later added. In 1900, after the Holy Spirit Church was built, it was transferred there. Maintenance is documented until 1915, in 1923 it was moved to the auditorium when the Mauracher organ (see below) was installed in the organ gallery. In 1941 the Kauffmann company (meanwhile written with double-F) began with a repair that had to be broken off because of the war. It was not playable for a long time and was waiting for the restoration, which should be finished in 2019 (as of 2019). Then it will be placed in the crypt of the Holy Spirit Church.

Disposition of the Kaufmann organ:

Manual C – f 3 Principal 8th' Aeoline 8th' Covered 8th' Fugara 4 ′

Pedal C – d 1 Sub bass 16 ′

• Pedal belt , tutti with footstep selectable

Mauracher organ

The Kaufmann organ was replaced by an electro-pneumatic organ in 1920–1923. The planning lay with Franz Mauracher , who in 1922 had merged his workshop with Fritz Mertel and Leopold Flamm to form the organ building company Cäcilia (in Salzburg and Klosterneuburg). This organ has three manuals; with choir organ and remote control it had 68 registers. The main organ is on the west choir, currently (as of 2019) it is also no longer playable. It was only preserved because the new organ by Rieger (see below) was installed elsewhere. In contrast, the choir organ, built as a swallow's nest organ over a choir arch, was dismantled and the case was stored. The pipes have not survived.

Disposition of the Mauracher organ:

Choir organ

I. Manual C-f 3 Principal 8th' Covered 8th' violin 4 ′ mixture 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′

II. Manual C – f 3 Gemshorn 8th' Philomela 8th' Vox coelestis 8th' Binoculars 4 ′

Pedal C – d 1 Sub-bass 16 ′ Covered bass 16 ′

• Pair : II / I, I / P, II / P, Super II / I, Super I / P

Main organ

I. Manual C-f 3 Principal 16 ′ Principal 8th' octave 8th' Gamba 8th' Salicional 8th' Hollow flute 8th' Delicately packed 8th' Octave 4 ′ Reed flute 4 ′ Octave 2 ′ mixture 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Corno 8th' Cornett 4 ′

II. Manual C – f 3 Drone 16 ′ Flute Principal 8th' Dolce 8th' Gemshorn 8th' Double flute 8th' Quintatön 8th' Prefix 4 ′ Dolce flute 4 ′ Fifth flute 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Octavino 2 ′ third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′ mixture 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Clarinet 8th'

III. Manual C – f 3 Covered 16 ′ Violin principal 8th' Aeoline 8th' Voix celeste 8th' Unda maris 8th' Philomela 8th' Darling Dumped 8th' Fugara 4 ′ Transverse flute 4 ′ Piccolo 2 ′ Cymbal 4 ′ Echomixtur 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Trumpet 8th' oboe 8th'

Pedal C – d 1 Principal bass 16 ′ Violonbass 16 ′ *) Salicet bass 16 ′ *) Covered bass 16 ′ *) Sub-bass 16 ′ *) Fifth bass 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Octave bass 8th' cello 8th'*) Bass flute 8th'*) Octave 4 ′ trombone 16 ′ Trumpet 8th' separately for II. and III. Can be registered manually

• Coupling : III / I, II / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P, Sub II / I, SUB II / I, Sub III / II, Super III / I, Super II / I , Super III / II
• Choir organ can be played on manual III

• Fernwerk on III. Manual playable

Vox humana 8 'carillon

Rieger organs

In 1980 the Rieger company built a positive chest (without pedal ), which was intended as a temporary solution.

Disposition of the chest organ:

Manual C – g 3
Wooden dacked	8th'
Reed flute	4 ′
Principal	2 ′
Fifth	1 1 ⁄ 3  ′

In the same year, Rieger was commissioned to build a larger organ in the choir, which was available for this after the high altar in the apse had been removed (1964). The two-manual organ with 24 registers was built there in 1982 and is used, among other things, at the Maria Enzernsdorf Organ Days. In 1982 the chest organ was placed in the crypt under the choir. After the restoration of the Kaufmann organ (see above) it will remain in the church's chancel. Angela Amodio has been the organist in charge of St. Gabriel since 2002 .

Disposition of the Rieger organ:

I. Hauptwerk C – g 3 Cane-covered 16 ′ Principal 8th' Hollow flute 8th' Octave 4 ′ Pointed flute 4 ′ Fifth 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Super octave 2 ′ third 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Mixture IV-V 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′ Trumpet 8th'

II. Breastwork C-g 3 Dumped 8th' Pointed Gamba 8th' Principal 4 ′ Reed flute 4 ′ Forest flute 2 ′ Sesquialter 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Scharff III 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′

Pedal C – f 1 Sub bass 16 ′ Octave bass 8th' Covered bass 8th' Octave 4 ′ bassoon 16 ′

• Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P
• Playing aids : swell kick
• Tuning : Bach / Kellner, a '= 440 Hz

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Facilities of the house

Philosophical-Theological College

The philosophical-theological college in St. Gabriel has been officially recognized as a university since 1972. She has been working closely with the Pontifical Urban University since 1987 . Paul Michalke was a long-time professor and rector .

Boys' Choir from the Vienna Woods

In 1921, Father Stanislaus Marusczyk founded the now internationally known Vienna Woods Boys' Choir .

Other facilities

• Mission Ethnographic Museum St. Gabriel
• In addition to their missionary work, the fathers of the mission house perform pastoral tasks in some surrounding parishes, such as the Hinterbrühl parish , Mödling-Herz-Jesu or Südstadt, a district of Maria Enzersdorf .

• The largest Austrian host bakery in Maria Enzersdorf belongs to the mission house .
• The mission house houses an ethnographic museum (founded in 1899) and its own magazine publisher.
• The Austrian branch of the only European mission bank , the Steyler Bank , whose headquarters are in Germany, is located in the mission house .
• The private evangelical Montessori school adventure school exists on the premises .
• In 2014, a new concept for the use of the huge building complex was developed under the term “Lebenswelten”, which has become too large for the reduced number of members of the order. These include:
• The "Gabrium", a top-class hotel, the rooms of which the architect Isa Stein furnished as a homage to world cultures,
• A Caritas refugee home ,
• A brewery facility for guest and traveling brewers,
• A bookbinding
• A start-up for the construction of individual bicycles,
• A bakery
• An organic farm on the lands of the mission house.

literature

• Commemorative sheets for the golden jubilee of the mission house St. Gabriel . Mission printing, Vienna-Mödling 1939.
• Martin Gusinde: The natural sciences in St. Gabriel until 1914 : In: Verbum 2 (1960). Pp. 45-59.
• Johann Kraus: Directory of subjects in St. Gabriel from autumn 1889 to summer 1960 . In: Verbum 3 (1961), pp. 174-183.
• Johann Kraus: List of names of the teachers who worked in St. Gabriel from autumn 1889 to summer 1960 and their subjects , Verbum 3 (1961) 270–282.
• Karl Müller: St. Gabriel and the Missionswerk today . In: Verbum SVD 7/1 (1966), pp. 116-124.
• Johannes Peter: Memories of the Lyceum in St. Gabriel . In: Verbum SVD 7/4 (1966), pp. 417-421.
• Josef Alt SVD: The History of the Mission House Saint Gabriel of the Society of the Divine Word. The 1st century . Verlag St. Gabriel, Mödling 1990, 431 pages, ISBN 3-85264-350-3 .
• P. Hans Brunner SVD (Hrsg.): 100 years Missionshaus St. Gabriel 1889-1989 , 167 pages, Verlag St. Gabriel, Mödling 1989.
• Winfried Glade : Missionsdruckerei St. Gabriel , in: Maria Enzersdorfer Kulturblätter 02/2009, pp. 3–16 ( PDF file; 690 kB )
• Christian Fastl: St. Gabriel. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-7001-3067-8 .

Web links

Commons : Missionshaus St. Gabriel (Maria Enzersdorf)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Mission House St. Gabriel
• Order branch St. Gabriel of the Steyler Missionaries in Austria
• The St Gabriel Institute for Theology of Religions (Engl.)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ St. Gabriel: A piece of mission history in the NÖN week 04/2012 page 31
2. ↑ Steyler missionaries opened the hotel in the NÖN edition Mödling, 10/2018 (print)
3. ↑ Last refugees moved out of St. Gabriel. noe.orf.at, April 29, 2019, accessed on April 29, 2019 . 
4. ↑ hotel and training center GABRIUM opened in St. Gabriel on OTS of 19 February 2018 accessed March 4, 2018th
5. ^ Anonymus: Building history of the Holy Spirit Church. In: The Holy Spirit Church in St. Gabriel. Divine Word Missionaries, accessed September 28, 2019 . 
6. ^ Anonymus: Building history of the Holy Spirit Church. In: The Holy Spirit Church in St. Gabriel. Divine Word Missionaries, accessed September 28, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Re-inauguration according to information from the Rector of the Mission House, Fr. Anton Fencz SVD, on November 10, 2019
8. ↑ The organ building company Cäcilia went out again in 1929 and was merged with the organ building company Dreher & Flamm. Cf. Gottfried Allmer: The organs in the Heiliggeistkirche of the Mission House St. Gabriel in Maria Enzersdorf near Vienna. (PDF) In: Principal 19, Zs. Principal, Verein der Orgelfreunde, 2016, p. 37 , accessed on October 4, 2019 . 
9. ↑ Gottfried Allmer: The organs in the Heiliggeistkirche of the Mission House St. Gabriel in Maria Enzersdorf near Vienna. (PDF) In: Principal 19, Zs. Principal, Verein der Orgelfreunde, 2016, pp. 37–40 , accessed on October 3, 2019 . 
10. ^ Christian Fastl: St. Gabriel. In: Austrian Music Lexicon online. September 10, 2015, accessed September 27, 2019 . 
11. ↑ Mission Ethnographic Museum St. Gabriel
12. ^ Children's house, elementary school and secondary school - Montessori Adventure School Mödling. In: www.erlebnisschule.at. Retrieved October 21, 2016 . 

Coordinates: 48 ° 5 ′ 40 ″  N , 16 ° 17 ′ 47 ″  E