Klagenfurt Cathedral

Klagenfurt Cathedral, or St. Petrus und Paulus Cathedral, is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt and one of the Roman Catholic city parish churches in the deanery of Klagenfurt-Stadt. It is located in the municipality of Klagenfurt am Wörthersee.The church was established in 1581 as a Protestant house of prayer dedicated to the “Most Holy Trinity” and is thus Austria’s largest Protestant church. Closed in 1600 as part of the Counter-Reformation, it was taken over by the Jesuits four years later, who rededicated them to Peter and Paul and cared for them until the order was dissolved in 1773.Bishop Franz Xaver von Salm-Reifferscheidt elevated the church to the rank of cathedral of the Diocese of Gurk in 1787.Following the demolition of the adjoining building complex, the “Jesuit barracks,” in 1960, the suddenly free-standing west side was given a matching façade.

The hall church’s 46-meter-long and 20-meter-wide facade is mostly hidden from view by the neighboring structures.Only from the cathedral square can one see the west facade with its about 70-meter-high, six-story, somewhat advanced vestibule tower capped with a double onion dome and a lantern.In 1973, a building on each side of the tower was erected to house the Diocesan Museum, among other things.The arcades on the bottom floor, which were originally walled off, now serve as the church’s entrance.Four baroque sandstone sculptures by the Venetian Francesco Robba, which formerly stood on Alter Platz as part of the Johannes Nepomuk Column, can be found in the arcade. They represent the plague’s four patron saints, Saints Roch, Sebastian, Ursula, and Johannes Nepomuk.

The main entrance to the church was on the north side until 1973; it is now utilized as a side entrance.The entrance and the little courtyard in front of it are separated from the street by a façade wall that stretches along the adjacent Lidmanskygasse.This wall contains four niches containing sandstone statues by Josef Veiter (1819-1902): The patron saint of Carinthia, St. Joseph, is next to the entry on the left, the patron saint of the diocese, John the Baptist, is on the right, and the church patrons are further out: Peter is on the left, and Paul is on the right.A Renaissance-style portico built in 1879 leads to a courtyard containing a statue of St. Hemma created by Carinthian sculptor Herbert Unterberger.

The church has a large gallery hall.The nave has a barrel vault and lunettes that lead to windows with viewing shafts.On three sides, there are arcades.In a nod to the late Gothic period, the pillar arcades are round on the north and south sides and pointed on the west.The arcades on the ground floor have been converted into chapels thanks to partition walls: four on the long walls, three on the western narrow side.The nave is divided into four bays by pilasters, which support a cantilevered cornice that divides the wall from the vault.The stucco design on the walls and vaults is rich and dense.The triple choir is barrel-vaulted, extended, and has a semicircular termination.

The strong but seemingly confined hall of the nave opens up when you enter the church through the great doorway and the entrance vault.On the upper floor, the wall pillars between the baroque-looking round arches are turned into free supports that bear the entablature via wall pilasters, on which the longitudinal barrel with its lunettes rests.Small, round-arched windows are constructed into these tops, allowing light to enter the vault.

The interior, which stands 17.9 meters tall, has a pronounced east-west orientation, owing to the erection of the presbytery later on.The nave (20 m) and chancel (19.5 m) divide the interior almost in half, with the church’s present overall length of 46 meters.

The stucco dates from many periods.The vaults of the penultimate two side chapels and the cross vaults of the west gallery have older, thick stucco ( cartilaginous ornamentation and curved framed cartouches ) attributed to Gabriel Wittini from around 1660.Stucco from circa 1669 may be found in the north side chapel, which now serves as a side exit.The monograms of the Savior and the Mother of God are shown in squares bordered by tendrils of foliage.Stucco composed of thick tendrils and cartilage may be found in the west gallery.The majority of the stucco is lighter and more vibrant.Kilian Pittner and Josef Marx Pittner built it in the years 1725-1727 after the fire in 1723. The nave and chancel vaults are decorated with delicate leaves interlaced to form an adornment, while the galleries are decorated with latticework and beautiful woven ribbons.

The stucco decoration frames the vault and walls’ 23 frescoes.They were painted over by Lexer in the nineteenth century and August Veiter in the twentieth.Switbert Lobisser painted the four frescoes on the choir walls showing scenes from Peter and Paul’s lives in 1928, replacing Baroque paintings.The chancel vault depicts Christ’s transfiguration on Mount Tabor, the nave vault depicts Christ and Mary’s ascension, and the lateral medallions depict the apostles.The gallery vault frescoes depict several saints.These frescoes were destroyed by roof damage and rebuilt by Veiter in 1927 and 1928.

The high altar is a canopy-covered 18-meter-high wooden pillar-pilaster construction.The imitation marble columns are fluted in the lower section, and they, along with the pilasters, support a large entablature.Above this is another that is bent like a volute.These side pillars are topped with enormous golden angel figurines.Angels move a curtain aside to expose an oval depiction of the Holy Trinity, which is likewise held by angels.Below this figure, between the pillars, is the large altarpiece by Daniel Granwas, which was completed in 1752 and depicts the departure of the church’s benefactors, Peter and Paul.The qualities of the two saints and martyr’s wreaths are held by angels in the clouds above the scene.As an allusion for the church, a woman floats in the skies above.The tabernacle is tall and slim, with a construction that resembles a columned tempietto and a crucifix.The tabernacle’s dome-like top contains a putto on each side and a book with seven seals and God’s radiant eye in the center.The genuine tabernacle is located beneath the miniature temple hall, and reliefs of the four evangelists may be found on its doors.Pedestals with reliefs of the bronze serpent and Abraham’s sacrifice flank the tabernacle and act as vases’ supports.On the extreme outside, a Mannerism angel in an adoring attitude stands.

Karl Holey constructed the choir stalls on the south side and the bishop’s throne on the north side in 1930.The coat of arms of the Gurk bishops is shown beneath the canopy.Carinthian Wolfgang Stracke created the ambo and people’s altar out of Hungarian marble in 1990 and 1991.

The side altars, in contrast to the wooden high altar, were built of marble between 1725 and 1727.They are similar to one another, look comparable in pairs, and are credited to Lukas Misli’s workshop in Ljubljana.The two easternmost altars are composed of eleven different types of marble, are from the Venetian studio of Francesco Robba, and support figures made of alabaster-like marble.Curved and smooth columns and pilasters support the altars.The altarpiece of the Mother of God with Child may be seen in the northern Marienkapelle, which is now utilized as a baptistery.The top has a group of figurines depicting the Annunciation to Mary, the side statues depict Aaron and Miriam, and there is a putto on each volute.The chapel is blocked off by a wrought-iron grille with rococo-style embellishments that dates from circa 1750.The southern Christ chapel houses a 1726 painting of Ignatius by Paul Troger. The two Jesuit saints Ignatius and Franz Xavier are represented by the white marble sculptures on the right side of the image. The Holy Trinity is depicted on the top, with a putto carrying the globe.

The two western altars are simpler, with merely a pair of smooth columns and pilasters rising from volutes on the outside.Their decoration comprises of massive fruit hangings from the early Baroque period, which can also be found on the front of the canteen.The altarpiece in the Anne Chapel’s north-facing Anne Chapel depicts Mother Anna with the young Maria.A pair of putti are sandwiched between flame vases at the top.In the south-facing St. Joseph’s Chapel, a 19th-century votive altar of the Brotherhood of St. Joseph stands.The altarpiece by August Veit (1902) representing St. Joseph’s death was removed during the previous refurbishment in 1990 and 1991.

The next niche to the west lacks an altar on the north side, which houses the old main and current side entrances.The altar has no pillars on the south side, unlike the others.The altarpiece depicts St. Aloysius.The oval image above depicts the Immaculata, while the side statues by Franz Rottmann depict St. Aloysius and St. Stanislaus Kostka.

The Rosalia chapel on the north side is the chapel farthest away from the main altar.It has fluted columns with leaning pilasters on its altar.The canteen is shaped like a sarcophagus, with volutes on pedestals standing diagonally next to it.On each of these, a putto kneels.The altarpiece depicts St. Rosalia, while the essay depicts St. Sebastian.The Barbara Chapel, on the south side, has an altar similar to the Rosalia Chapel, with the altarpiece depicting St. Barbara’s beheading.

The Aloysius chapel leads to the current sacrament chapel, which was built between 1660 and 1661.In the twentieth century, a copy of the Altötting Madonna replaced the original altarpiece depicting St. Franz Xaver.The altar is made of stucco marble and depicts St. Andrew on the left and St. Wolfgang on the right, the namesake of the donor, Wolfgang Andreas Graf Orsini-Rosenberg.Six wooden figurines of Jesuit missionaries adorn the side wall niches.Christoph Rudolph is credited with the altar and niche statues.

The bishop’s crypt is located beneath the sacrament chapel and is where former bishops Adam Hefter, Joseph Köstner, and Valentin Wiery are buried.Stanislaus Cegovnik is also buried in a canon’s vault.