Churches and Cathedrals In Baden bei Wien
The churches and cathedrals of Lower Austrian spa town Baden bei Wien are especially representative of its rich religious legacy and architectural variety. Of these, St. Stephan, the town center parish church, is the largest. St. Stephan, built in the fifteenth century, was first built in Gothic style on Romanesque foundation. Then, after Ottoman war damage, it was remodelled in the Baroque style in the 17th century. Addition of the unique onion dome atop the main steeple in 1697 adds to the church’s recognizable form. Within are several altars, monuments, and artworks from different eras of art history.
Katholische Kirche Baden - St. Stephan
Roman Catholic Stadtpfarrkirche St. Stephan is a centuries-old church located in Baden, Lower Austria. At first connected to the Diocese of Passau, it was devoted to the patron saint of Passau, St. Stephen. From a Traiskirchen subsidiary, the church developed into a separate parish supported by Melk Abbey. At last, in 1729, it was included into the Vienna Diocese.
Construction history of the church shows a fusion of Gothic and Romanesque architectural styles. There seems to have been a church there from the late 12th century, maybe connected to Baden Castle. About 1400, Gothic repairs that included a new lower church and presbytery were underway. Though left incomplete until subsequently crowned with a baroque onion dome, building proceeded despite pauses brought on by Hungarian invasions.
The church changed and was renovated many times during its existence, reflecting the socio-political and theological developments of the day. Significant damage during the 16th and 17th century Turkish wars prompted baroque-style restorations. The altars and chapels within the cathedral were re-Gothicized in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Additional internal and external upgrades in the 1970s included the installation of new seats and the moving of altars. Remarkably, the church has a historic organ that is thought to have been performed by Beethoven and Mozart.
The ecclesiastical connection of Mozart enhances its cultural value. He was good friends with St. Stephan choirmaster Anton Stoll, to whom he dedicated his piece “Ave verum,” KV 618. Probably in 1791, the chapel held the first performance of this work.
All things considered, the Stadtpfarrkirche St. Stephan is a monument to the religious and architectural legacy of Baden, having changed throughout generations to reflect the times while maintaining its historical integrity and cultural value.
Katholische Kirche Baden - St. Christoph
The Baden-St. Christoph parish church is a Roman Catholic church governed by the Deanery of Baden in the Archdiocese of Vienna. It is located in the Weikersdorf area of Baden, Lower Austria. The second parish church in the community, it was built between 1955 and 1957 and was designed by architect Hans Petermair.
The church has a southern chancel, northern vestibule, and extended octagonal nave with hipped and gabled parts of the roof. Situated in the north hall, a prominent feature is the five-axis arcade by sculptor Franz Barwig the Younger, which is decorated with allegorical animal images. On the northwest corner is also a large square tower with an onion dome that is joined to the north hall by a small transition bay.
With its half-hipped roof, the chapel stands out on the northeast side next to the entryway. While three gates with reliefs by sculptor Franz Xaver Ölzant represent Christ Pantocrator and angels, the vestibule’s pediment features a sgraffito of St. Christophorus by painter Sepp Zöchling.
It was originally furnished with a makeshift organ from 1905, but in 1997 the Rieger Orgelbau firm installed a new one. With 1319 pipes, two manuals, a pedal and 21 registers, this organ, which weighs around 3900 kg, provides both the parish community and guests with a wonderful musical experience.
Katholische Kirche Baden-St. Josef
Located on Leesdorfer Hauptstraße in Lower Austria, close to Vienna, is the Roman Catholic parish church of Baden-Leesdorf. With the church and pastoral care facility listed as protected monuments, it is governed by the Deanery of Baden within the Archdiocese of Vienna.
The church was founded in 1932 when Cardinal Friedrich Gustav Piffl dedicated an emergency church on Waltersdorfer Strasse. Dispossessed during the National Socialist era, the Gehrer couple temporarily constructed a house of worship in a barn following World War II. Plans for a permanent church were started in 1973, and between 1980 and 1987 it was built, with Stefan Bukovac’s design, and dedicated to St. Joseph in that year.
Plans were to commemorate Anton Maria Schwartz, but those were altered when Pope John Paul II beatified Schwartz in 1998. His relic was set up on the altar of the people in 2000. The church, which is a modest building with a quadrant floor plan, has a separate bell tower that was constructed in 1992 and a two-story pastoral center.
The church contains a large, bright hall with an open ceiling structure held up by laminated trusses. Among the artworks are paintings of the Crucifixion by Jerzy Duda-Gracz and Stations of the Cross by Ute Brunner. There is also an icon made by Anton Wollinek during the building phase and a 19th-century replica of the miraculous figure of Maria Pötsch.
Addition to the parish church of Baden-Leesdorf’s rich cultural and religious legacy is the 27/II/P organ, which was built in 2020 by Drago Lukman of Slovenia.
Frauenkirche Maria the Glorious
Located at Frauengasse 3 in Baden, Lower Austria, the Frauenkirche was first referenced as the Marienkirche in Baden in papers from Heiligenkreuz Abbey dating back to the 13th century. The Augustinian hermits were kindly given the Church of Our Lady and its surrounding courtyard by Leutold von Chreusbach and his family in 1285.
In order to become king of Poland, Duke Friedrich Augustus the Strong secretly converted to Catholicism here in 1697. In 1811–1812 the monastery connected to the church was disbanded, and the Baden town fire of the same year caused considerable damage.
In 1818, Joseph Friedrich Freiherr von Haan purchased the church and monastery ruins, and he worked with Joseph Kornhäusel to restore the monastery in particular. Emperor Franz I lived at the house when he was in Baden after buying it in 1826. Reconsecration of the church took place in 1827, and in 1828 it was named a court church. Its ties to the imperial family persisted under Emperor Karl I from 1917 to 1918.
Built in the baroque style originally, Johann Nepomuk Amann rebuilt the hall church in 1825–1826, adding classicist features. The modest double-tower facade melds in perfectly with Frauengasse, the neighborhood. Renovated in 1924 and 1934, the west facade features a traditional two-zone design with plaster ashlar and scratches that are probably the work of Joseph Kornhäusel.
The structure has center risalit with a shallow, flat, gabled roof and eaves-like towers with dormered mansard roofs. A plaster-framed high round-arched window adorning the rectangular gateway is supported by volute brackets and has an inset balustrade.
