Nikolaikapelle (Vienna)

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Nikolaikapelle
Interior of the Nikolaikapelle

The Nikolaikapelle is one of the oldest sacred buildings in Vienna . Today the chapel is consecrated to St. Eustachius . It is located in the west of the city, in the 13th district of  Vienna , Hietzing , in the Lainzer Tiergarten near the Nikolaitor located on the edge of Hacking . (The zoo is part of the Auhof cadastral community , but not part of today's Auhof district.)

history

The chapel was probably built towards the end of the 12th century; the first documentary mention comes from the year 1321. Due to the wall-ditch system still preserved today, in the center of which the sacred building is located, it can justifiably be assumed that this was part of a high medieval castle complex. The chapel at that time was dedicated to St. Nicholas . Nikolai is the genitive (2nd case) of the name Nikolaus in Latin .

In 1735 the chapel was renovated and three larger window openings were knocked out. Just a few decades later it was abandoned to decay and profaned in 1787. In the course of the Napoleonic Wars , the building suffered further destruction in 1809.

Since 1833 the area with the chapel has been part of the Lainzer Tiergarten after a basic exchange. From 1835 to 1837 the chapel was repaired at the instigation of Archduke Ludwig and was given its current appearance. A classical altar was set up inside, which came from the Joseph Chapel of the Hofburg. Finally, it was consecrated as an imperial hunting chapel to St. Eustachius.

In 1945 the chapel was looted and is currently without furnishings. The building fabric has been restored in recent years.

architecture

Nikolaikapelle, view of the apse and gable

Originally the chapel was a simple Romanesque building with a rectangular floor plan with a retracted semicircular apse . In the course of the renovation carried out in 1735, it received three large windows as well as a blue-gray trickle plaster and chains of castles on the corners. Today's appearance with a half-hipped roof and curved gable is the result of renovations carried out between 1835 and 1837.

regional customs

Around the 20th of September a Eustachius Mass has been celebrated in front of the Nikolaikapelle or in the church of Mariabrunn for about 300 years .

Others

The namesake of the chapel later also acted as "namesake" for

  • the Nikolaiberg (268 m), on the eastern slope of which it is located,
  • the Nikolaitor of the Lainzer Tiergarten near the chapel,
  • Nikolausgasse leading to this (13th district),
  • the Nikolaisteg north of the mountain over the Wien river and
  • the Nikolaibrücke , the Hadikgasse bridge that crosses the Vienna River diagonally above the footbridge (B1, city exit to the A1 Westautobahn).

The road construction department of the Vienna City Administration also uses (e) the terms

  • Nikolaihochstrasse or
  • Nikolaihangbrücke

for the elevated part of Hadikgasse from Hütteldorfer Brücke to the west to Nikolaibrücke. The Nikolaihangbrücke also appears on city maps.

literature

  • Gerd Pichler, Alice Kaltenberger, Michaela Müller: The Nikolaikapelle in the Lainzer Tiergarten in Vienna. Research Society Vienna Urban Ecology, 2002 ISBN 3-902086-06-8

Web links

Information board by the chapel
Commons : Nikolaikapelle  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Content search for “Rathaus-Korrespondenz” on the city administration's website , reports from 1995 to 1998
  2. ↑ Content search for “Rathaus-Korrespondenz” on the city administration's website , reports from 2003
  3. ↑ Kartografische Anstalt Freytag-Berndt & Artaria (ed.): Urban Atlas Greater Vienna 1: 20,000 , Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-85084-103-0 , plan section 29

Coordinates: 48 ° 11 ′ 51 ″  N , 16 ° 15 ′ 9 ″  E