Rochus Church (Vienna)

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The Rochus Church (2014)

The parish church of St. Rochus und Sebastian (popularly: Rochuskirche ) is a Roman Catholic parish church in the 3rd district of Vienna Landstrasse on Landstrasse Hauptstrasse at Rochusmarkt . The parish is located in the Dean's Office 3 of the Archdiocese of Vienna belonging city Vicariate Vienna . It is the Holy Rochus and Sebastian ordained and is under monument protection ( list entry ).

history

The Rochuskirche on a painting by René Biegler (19th century)

The church was built from 1642 on the site of an earlier Ruperti Chapel as a monastery church for the Discalced Augustinian Hermits and was completely destroyed during the Second Turkish Siege of Vienna in 1683. In 1687 the construction of the new church in baroque style began. The facade was designed in 1718–1721, since then the external appearance of the church has not changed significantly. In 1783 it became the parish church in Landstrasse. In the following year, the previous parish church, the Nikolaikirche , which was located directly in front of it on the site of today's Rochusmarkt , was demolished. The monastery was closed in 1812. Two wings of the former cloister southeast of the church are still preserved. From 2000 the church was extensively renovated. In the course of the renovation, the yellow paint (" Schönbrunn Yellow ") was replaced by gray and white (findings).

The leadership and pastoral care of the Roman Catholic parish of St. Rochus and Sebastian has been entrusted to the oratory of St. Philip Neri since the 1970s . As of November 2014, eight oratory priests and two novices (in training) are active there; Father Florian Calice CO has been the pastor since March 31, 2009.

In Austria, the parish became well known in the media at the end of November 2006 when several Austrian print media reported the internal parish decision that the provisional people's altar erected in the 1960s should be replaced by the baroque high altar as a celebration altar. As a result of this change, the priest sometimes faces the same direction as the people ("with his back to the people") during the celebration of the Eucharist.

architecture

Statue of St. Augustine with monks and putti

Church exterior

According to documents that were found in the spiers during a renovation in 1835, the facade was built by the military engineer named Kollmann and an otherwise unknown architect and stonemason, Kaspar Offel , and completed in 1721. The name of the second-named architect often leads to confusion with Anton Ospel , who at the same time planned the church of the Spanish hospital in Boltzmanngasse in Vienna-Alsergrund . What is certain, however, is that the sculptor Georg Anton Eberl created the statues on the facade. The figurative decoration of the three-axle twin-tower facade makes the church unique to the Church of the shod Augustinians : at the top of of a basket arch included triangular pediment is a statue of Saint Augustine . This is flanked by the two holy monks Thomas von Villanova and Nikolaus von Tolentino . Both wear the order clothes of the Augustinians with "wide sleeves". One putt gives Augustine a model of the facade of the old Rochus Church, the second putt gives him an open book. In the cartouches on the bases of the towers there are three gold stars, the stemma of the Neri family, in memory of St. Philip Neri . Until 1816 there was a representation of Moses with a brazen snake fastened on a pole in the large gable field, which today houses a clock and a coat of arms of the city of Vienna . With the help of the plague of snakes from which the Israelites suffered while fleeing through the desert , the plague is treated, which determines the lower part of the facade , which is divided by six pilasters . Below the gable is a high parapet .

The three-axis facade on a high base is structured by six giant pilasters. In the two side axes there are two niches with figures of saints, one above the other, in the central axis a window above a portal niche. The niche figures were created in 1721: in the middle Mary with the child, St. Ulrich at the top left, St. Sebastian at the bottom left , St. Rosalia on the right , St. Rochus below. Above the window there is a relief with putti and the imperial coat of arms. The facade is very strongly connected to the high altar picture due to the theme of the plague. In both the same saints and Mary appear as advocates for the people plagued by the plague.

Church interior

inside view

The early baroque church has a single nave. Its type is a wall pillar church with set arches. With the exception of the fourth yoke, these have galleries with balustrades . The choir is slightly separated from the nave by a triumphal arch . Over the nave is a barrel vault with belt arches and stitch caps . The vault has remains of stucco decoration from the end of the 17th century. The large cartouche with the imperial coat of arms at the top of the triumphal arch, which is carried by two angels, is the last remnant of this stucco decoration.

The strong and multi- profiled entablature carry double pilasters made of red stucco marble . In the fourth yoke, a transept is indicated by the missing galleries . The choir is slightly narrower and lower than the rest of the nave. The back wall is completely taken up by the construction of the high altar . The entrance yoke with the organ gallery has also been moved in.

Furnishing

The altar of the Rochuskirche

presbytery

High altar

The three-storey high altar was donated by Emperor Leopold I in 1689 . In the basement, two doors to the left and right of the Altarmensa lead into the summer sacristy behind. The blasted gable with richly cranked beams is supported by mighty, staggered pilasters and spiral columns. The gable is crowned in the middle by the imperial crowned double-headed eagle. The pillars are decorated with ribbon ornaments, acanthus carvings , flower garlands and volutes . The walls in the chancel are structured by simple red stucco marble pilasters and held in pale ivory marbling.

The high altar painting was commissioned personally by Emperor Leopold I in 1690 from the important Austrian baroque painter Peter Strudel . In the lower quarter of the picture, sick people can be seen next to the dying. Mourners are bent over them. It is intended to commemorate the plague epidemic in Vienna in 1679. St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna can be seen in the background . On the left above, on a voluminous bank of clouds, some well-known plague saints are depicted: Saint Ulrich of Augsburg praying , to the right of him is Saint Sebastian , behind him is Saint Rosalia with a rosary on her head. On the right in front of her is St. Roch with a pilgrim's staff and in black robe. The dog to the left of Saint Roch with bread in its mouth stands for the dogs who provided bread to those who had been rejected after the infection. The group of people is represented by Pope Gregory the Great , with the Pope's cross and tiara . While the pilgrim's staff of St. Roch is at an angle to the Mother of God, Pope Gregory's Pope Cross points almost vertically into the upper part of the altarpiece, in which light that appears above the earth. In the upper right half of the picture, St. Mary can be seen surrounded by angels , as she intercedes with her son on the left above. She looks up to the Holy Trinity while pointing her hands down at the city of Vienna. Jesus has turned his head to the God the Father sitting next to him and is in the process of getting up to rush to Mary in order to guarantee the granting of the requests.

The oval picture in the altarpiece was also painted by Peter Strudel. It shows the glory of St. Augustine floating on a cloud surrounded by angels.

The tabernacle is gilded and decorated with rococo ornaments . It is embedded in a central architectural prospectus. Above is a suspension throne with a movable celebration cross and two angel figures.

The crowned image of the “Mother of Good Advice” in a golden halo is a central object on the high altar. It is a replica of the fresco in the Augustinian Erimite Church in Genazzano, east of Rome . According to legend, the original was painted on the wall of a church in Scutari , Albania . When the Ottomans occupied the country and, among other things, destroyed this church, the picture is said to have detached itself from the wall and floated over sea and land to Genazzano, where it reappeared in the local Augustinian church on April 25, 1467. The fresco could be from the hand of the artist Antonio Vivarini . A copy of this picture was brought from Rome to Vienna together with the remains of St. Donatus in 1754. Initially, the image was on the altar of St. Donatus, but it was transferred to the high altar in 1759 at the request of Empress Maria Theresia , who often gave prayer in front of the miraculous image during trips to the Vienna Prater . The structure of the tabernacle was probably redesigned for this occasion. The frame of the miraculous image is made of gold-plated copper . The crowning Marian monogram is flanked by two horns of plenty of grace. Around the picture is a golden halo that covers part of the altar leaf. The frame and the halo were donated by Landstrasser Anton Ballauf in 1823.

The four monumental figures of holy rulers are intended to remind of the Habsburg Altar Foundation. The statues were made in the school of the court sculptor Peter Strudel . On the left, in armor, with a floor-length cloak as well as a crown and orb, Emperor Heinrich II (* 973; † 1024) is shown. To his right is Margrave Leopold III. Depicted in breast armor and ermine skin as well as with a princely hat , flag and church model. On the right side of the altar, Saint Wenceslas of Bohemia (* 908; † 929) in armor and with a fluttering cloak as well as Saint Stephen of Hungary (* 969; † 1038) in Hungarian costume are depicted. The statues on the altarpiece also come from the school of Paul Strudel. Flanked by two angels, palm fronds and victory wreaths is a statue of St. Joseph in the middle . In his right hand, the saint holds a burning heart as an attribute, which was a symbol for Saint Joseph at the time of the edification. In his left hand he carries the blooming lily staff. To the left of the top picture is shown St. Mary Magdalene with a skull, and to the right, St. Mary Magdalene von Pazzi with a cross and a flaming heart.

Oratory window

On both side walls in the presbytery there are two splendid oratory windows. The oratory windows are splendidly framed with red marbled stucco with rich, partly gilded ornamentation, shells and angels. There is a gilded eagle above each of the windows. The names of the imperial donors are immortalized in wide cartouches above the windows. On the left are the names of Leopold I and Eleonore Magdalene von Pfalz-Neuburg and on the right the names of Ferdinand III. and Empress Maria Anna of Spain . Her name is a reminder of the year the foundation stone was laid, 1642, which she attended. Both immortalized emperors attended a Holy Mass at least once in the Rochus Church. In 1651, Emperor Ferdinand attended the patronage festival of St. Roch on August 16. In 1664 Emperor Leopold and his court appeared at the patronage festival, together with Cardinal Ernst Adalbert von Harrach . Emperor Leopold came again in 1691 on the occasion of the canonization of the Augustinian monk Johannes a San Facundo .

chandelier

Next to the two sideboards on the side are two large Agnus Dei candlesticks made of bronze . They bear the following inscription: “In 1687 Johann Kippo Kayserlicher stucco caster poured me in Vienna”. This inscription says that they were cast by Johann Kippo von Mühlfeld in 1687. Legend has it that these candlesticks were cast from Ottoman cannons that were left behind after the Second Turkish Siege of Vienna .

Communion bench

The communion bench was made of red marble at the end of the 17th century. In the small pillar niches are six putti made of lighter marble . These carry the symbols of the divine virtues as well as the cardinal virtues (from left to right): sword for bravery and scales for justice, heart for love, cross for faith, anchor as a sign of hope, mirror for prudence and a jug as a sign of moderation.

Nave

In the side niches in the nave, there are side altars opposite each other, the architecture, the design of the statues and the coloring. The altars are marbled in green, reddish brown, ocher and brown colors. The wooden statues are painted white and partially gilded.

The individual objects are now described in an anti-clockwise direction, starting to the left of the presbytery:

Sacred Heart of Jesus image

On the gospel side of the triumphal arch there is an old copy of a well-known image of the Sacred Heart from the church Il Gesù in Rome by Pompeo Batoni . It is in a golden frame in a golden halo.

Philipp Neri Altar

This altar has been dedicated to the founder of the oratory, Saint Philip Neri, since 1991. The altarpiece is a replica of a picture by Guido Reni that is in the Chiesa Nuova , the Church of the Holy Sepulcher of St. Philip Neri, in Rome. Hermann Hutterer painted the replica . The picture shows Saint Philip, clad in a red chasuble in ecstasy and with outspread arms, sunk in prayer. It refers to his encounter with the Holy Spirit in 1544 in Rome. His eyes are directed to the sky. Our Lady with the blessing baby Jesus is modeled on the image of grace in the Chiesa Nuova, under whose protection the oratory of St. Philip Neri is located. Later, at the request of the order, a lily was added to the picture as a sign of purity.

The picture hangs under a semicircular protruding, partly gilded canopy with curtains hanging down at the sides. In the place of the picture of St. Philip Neri originally hung the now lost miraculous picture “Maria Trost”, later the picture “ Holy Family ” by Joseph Kastner the Elder . It was created in the middle of the 19th century. Today it hangs in the Philipp Neri room.

Above the picture is the coat of arms of the Esterházy family , who in earlier times owned a garden palace near the Rochuskirche. The oval top picture comes from the school of Peter Strudel and was created around 1700. It shows God the Father with a scepter and the globe . The Holy Spirit and putti are shown below.

The sculptures on the altar come from the environment of Giovanni Giuliani from 1700. Together with the missing miraculous image, they represent an overall Marian concept. Above the top image is a statue of St. John the Baptist with a flag with the words “Ecce Agnus Dei "(German:" See, the Lamb of God! "). Left and right are his parents, Saints Elizabeth and Zacharias , who is represented with a priest's hat and a book.

The Tiburtine Sibyl is shown to the left of the top picture , and a prophet with a scroll on the right . At the height of the altarpiece there is a figure of St. Joachim on the left and a statue of St. Anna on the right . To the left and right of the picture, the founders of the Maria Trost Brotherhood, two Augustinian hermits, kneel. The two statues are of St. Augustine and his mother Monika .

The tabernacle was created in 1727/28. A communion grille separates the altar from the nave.

pulpit

The pulpit was built between 1691 and 1695. The curved sound cover is crowned by gold-plated panels with the Ten Commandments , which are surrounded by a halo and clouds. Personified statues of the three divine virtues with the respective attributes are depicted on the edge of the sound cover: Faith with a cross and chalice, hope with an anchor and love with a heart. On the underside of the sound cover a dove is depicted as a sign of the Holy Spirit. Like the tablets of the law, it is also surrounded by a halo. The pulpit's basket is goblet-shaped and decorated with seven twisted columns made of green marble. In between there are female figures in shallow niches who could represent the gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, insight, advice, strength, knowledge, piety and fear of God). A figure has a Janus head , i.e. a head with two faces. At the bottom the pulpit is decorated with a gilded grape.

Anthony Altar

The altarpiece of the Antonius altar shows Mary with the baby Jesus who affectionately extends her hand to Saint Anthony . Putti are depicted around the three figures. The picture comes from the hand of the Salzburg painter Hans Adam Weissenkirchner , a contemporary of Peter Strudel. The top picture is by the same artist and shows "St. Anna Maria teaching reading". Above the Altarmensa there is an attachment picture, a copy of the famous depiction of "Christ as Man of Sorrows ( Ecce homo )" by Lucas Cranach the Elder . The original painting with the artist's workshop signs from his time in Wittenberg from 1537 is now in the Vienna Cathedral and Diocesan Museum . Emerich Bergthold painted the copy from 1937 .

Pews and confessionals

The pews and the two confessionals near the main portal date from the end of the 17th century, when the church was rebuilt after the Second Turkish Siege of Vienna. The two confessionals at the Antonius and Nikolaus von Tolentiono altars were created in the same style at the end of the 19th century.

organ

In 1991, the organ builder Gebrüder Mayer built a new organ into the organ case by Johann Bohack from 1799 . The slider chest instrument has 27 stops on two manuals and a pedal . A register in the pedal is vacant. The action actions are mechanical, the stop action mechanical and electrical (double action).

I Hauptwerk C – g 3
Bourdon 16 ′
Principal (prospectus) 8th'
Gemshorn 8th'
Cane-covered 8th'
Octav 4 ′
Salicet 4 ′
Coupling flute 4 ′
Sesquialter II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
Forest flute 2 ′
Mixture IV-VI 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Trumpet 8th'
Tremulant
II parapet positive C – g 3
Wood-covered 8th'
Principal (prospectus) 4 ′
Reed flute 4 ′
Octave 2 ′
Fifth 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
Scharff II 1'
Krummhorn 8th'
Tremulant
Pedals C – f 1
Principal bass 16 ′
Sub-bass 16 ′
Octave bass (brochure) 8th'
Covered bass 8th'
Chorale bass 4 ′
flute 4 ′
Back set IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
trombone 16 ′
Schalmey (vacant) 4 ′

literature

  • Dehio Vienna. II. To IX. and XX. District . Anton Schroll, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-7031-0680-8 , p. 60-63 .

Web links

Commons : Rochuskirche  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Vienna - immovable and archaeological monuments under monument protection. (PDF), ( CSV ). Federal Monuments Office , status: 23 January 2019.
  2. ^ Wien Museum (ed.): Beautiful prospects. The famous Vienna pictures from the Artaria publishing house. With contributions by Reingard Witzmann and Sándor Békési . Christian Brandstätter Verlag 2007, ISBN 978-3-85033-098-5 , p. 124
  3. ^ Parish St. Rochus and St. Sebastian Landstrasse (ed.); Huberta Eiselberg; Elisabeth Garms; Paul Bernhard Wodrazka: Parish Church of St. Rochus and Sebastian, Church of the Oratory in Vienna . The Best Kunstverlag, Wels 2013, ISBN 978-3-902809-27-8 , p. 8 .
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Czerny, Robert Keil a. a .: Dehio manual. The art monuments of Austria: Vienna. II. To IX. and XX. District, III. Landstrasse district . Verlag Anton Schroll & Co, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-7031-0680-8 .
  5. ^ Parish St. Rochus and St. Sebastian Landstrasse (ed.); Huberta Eiselberg; Elisabeth Garms; Paul Bernhard Wodrazka: Parish Church of St. Rochus and Sebastian, Church of the Oratory in Vienna . The Best Kunstverlag, Wels 2013, ISBN 978-3-902809-27-8 , p. 9 .
  6. ↑ Information on the organ in the church guide Parish Church St. Rochus and Sebastian Church of the Oratory , p. 36 (PDF file)

Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 9 ″  N , 16 ° 23 ′ 26 ″  E