Maltese Church

Vienna, Austria

The Maltese Church is a Roman Catholic Gothic church of the Knights Hospitaller in Vienna. The first church on this site is mentioned in 1217, as a commandry to care and support crusaders. The current building was built in the mid-15th century. In the 17th century it was a favoured preaching location for Abraham a Sancta Clara.

This building was rebuilt to fit contemporary taste in the Baroque era and in 1806, and the Kommendenhaus (1839) and parts of the church (1857) had stained glass added during the 19th century. The Order ran into financial trouble after the First World War and in 1933 had to sell the church and the Johanneshof, and the church was given over to other uses within a historical preservation order. It was bought back in 1960 and restored in stages in 1968, 1972 and 1983-84, finishing with a general restoration in 1998.

The church's high altarpiece was painted in 1730 by Johann Georg Schmidt.

References:

Comments

Your name

Website (optional)


Address

Kärntner Straße 37, Vienna, Austria
See all sites in Vienna

Details

Founded: 15th century
Category: Religious sites in Austria

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.5/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


St. Stephen's Cathedral (0,4 km)
Hofburg Palace (0,5 km)
Museumsquartier (0,9 km)
Kunsthistorisches Museum (0,7 km)
Augustinian Church (0,3 km)
Albertina (0,2 km)
St. Peter's Church (0,5 km)
Schönbrunn Palace (4,9 km)
Minoritenkirche (0,7 km)


Klosterneuburg Abbey (11,8 km)
Schloss Esterházy (41,4 km)
Carnuntum (37,8 km)
Heiligenkreuz Abbey (24,4 km)
Forchtenstein Castle (55,1 km)
Perchtoldsdorf Castle (12,4 km)
Eisenstadt Cathedral (41,6 km)
Blauer Hof (15,2 km)
Kreuzenstein Castle (19,9 km)

User Reviews

Joanne Hendrickson (5 months ago)
It is a small church and on a busy shopping street. Not as impressive in appearance as some of the other churches in the area, but has a great feeling of serenity when you enter it.
Raymond Nolte (11 months ago)
Officially called the Church of St. John the Baptist, this little church is under the protection of and maintained by the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta (a crusader era order founded in 1048 and are also know as The Knights of Malta), the order has been on that site since 1217. It is a quiet place to stop and take a moment out of your day to say "thank you" to God for all of our many blessings. One of my favorite places to visit while in Vienna.
Adam Vojta (15 months ago)
A small church hidden in shopping zone.
dreas w (17 months ago)
A beautiful church near the city center. It was very quiet inside despite the season and the fact there are many tourists and locals outside its doors hustling about. Included are some photos of the Christmas decor, which I found very tasteful.
Toivo Hujanen (3 years ago)
Small and beautiful. Good place to sit a while and collect your thoughts in the middle of the buzzling city.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Must-see historic sighs in Luxembourg
Photo from Flickr, copyright damiankania550

Historic Site of the week

Moszna Castle

The Moszna Castle is one of the best known monuments in the western part of Upper Silesia. The history of this building begins in the 17th century, although much older cellars were found in the gardens during excavations carried out at the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the investigators, including H. Barthel, claimed that those cellars could have been remnants of a presumed Templar castle, but their theory has never been proved. After World War II, further excavations discovered a medieval palisade.

The central part of the castle is an old baroque palace which was partially destroyed by fire on the night of April 2, 1896 and was reconstructed in the same year in its original form by Franz Hubert von Tiele-Winckler. The reconstruction works involved an extension of the residence. The eastern Neogothic-styled wing of the building was built by 1900, along with an adjacent orangery. In 1912-1914, the western wing was built in the Neo-Renaissance style. The architectural form of the castle contains a wide variety of styles, thus it can be generally defined as eclectic.

The height of the building, as well as its numerous turrets and spires, give the impression of verticalism. The whole castle has exactly ninety-nine turrets. Inside, it contains 365 rooms. The castle was twice visited by the German Emperor Wilhelm II. His participation in hunting during his stay at the castle was documented in a hand-written chronicle in 1911 as well as in the following year. The castle in Moszna was the residence of a Silesian family Tiele-Winckler who were industrial magnates, from 1866 until the spring of 1945 when they were forced to move to Germany and the castle was occupied by the Red Army. The period of the Soviet control caused significant damage to the castle's internal fittings in comparison to the minor damage caused by WWII.

After World War II the castle did not have a permanent owner and was the home of various institutions until 1972 when it became a convalescent home. Later it became a Public Health Care Centre for Therapies of Neuroses. Nowadays it can be visited by tourists since the health institution has moved to another building in the neighbourhood. The castle also has a chapel which is used as a concert hall. Since 1998 the castle housed a gallery in which works of various artists are presented at regular exhibitions.

Apart from the castle itself, the entire complex includes a park which has no precise boundaries and includes nearby fields, meadows and a forest. Only the main axis of the park can be characterised as geometrical. Starting from the gate, it leads along the oak and then horse-chestnut avenues, towards the castle. Further on, the park passes into an avenue of lime trees with symmetrical canals running along both sides of the path, lined with a few varieties of rhododendrons. The axis of the park terminates at the base of a former monument of Hubert von Tiele-Winckler. On the eastern side of the avenue there is a pond with an islet referred to by the owners as Easter Island. The islet is planted with needle-leaved shrubs and can be reached by a Chinese-styled bridge. The garden, as part of the whole park complex was restored slightly earlier than the castle itself. Preserved documents of 1868 state that the improvement in the garden's aesthetic quality was undertaken by Hubert von Tiele-Winckler.

Map Top Sights Tags Historical Periods City Guides About Us Sign Up Upload new site
© 2019 SpottingHistory.com. All rights reserved.