Peterskirche

St. Peter’s Church, often known as the Peterskirche, is a Baroque Roman Catholic parish church in Vienna, Austria. The Archbishop of Vienna, Franz Cardinal König, gave it to the Opus Dei priests in 1970.

The First St. Peter’s Church

The first Peterskirche, of which there are no visible ruins now, dated from late antiquity and was therefore the city of Vienna’s oldest church and parish.In the second part of the fourth century, a barracks structure from the Roman garrison Vindobona was rebuilt into a basilica-style single-nave hall church.Following more conversion work, the structure was later given a Gothic style, with the nave split into three unequal naves.The rectangular tower had three levels, with pinnacles at the corners, and was topped by a central, higher tower with a cross.It is unknown what the interior of this church looked like.Only the late Gothic St. Valentine’s Chapel, which was erected in 1399, has stone altarpieces dating to 1510/15.The church was flanked by general stores, and in an annex was the “Stadtguardia”, the precursor of the contemporary police department.

The church itself is claimed to have been founded in 792 by Emperor Charlemagne, but this has yet to be proved.The earliest mention of a St. Peter’s Church in Vienna was in 1137 (as part of the plan for the construction of St. Stephen’s Church, to which the parish rights of St. Peter were also to be transferred).The church was taken over by the Schottenstift around the end of the 12th century.The structure burned down in 1661 and was only partially rebuilt.The decision to build a new church, however, was made only in 1676, when the Archconfraternity of the Most Holy Trinity relocated there.

The new building

Construction of the new edifice began in 1701, at the initiative of Emperor Leopold I.The original St. Peter’s Church, which was most likely already in disrepair, was demolished, as was the adjoining cemetery.Gabriele Montani oversaw the planning and commencement of construction (foundations) of the new St. Peter’s Church.Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt began work on a modified plan beginning in 1703, and the building’s shell was finished in 1708.Franz Jänggl was his foreman, and master builder Francesco Martinelli is also mentioned.The stonemason order was given to the Viennese master Johann Carl Trumler, who employed hard Kaiserstein from the imperial quarry, among other things, for the surrounding base.

The building work carried on until 1722, when it was substantially finished.The new church was Vienna’s first domed structure.The religious structure has a small footprint, an oval interior with a surprising amount of room, and rectangular expansions.Matthias Steinl was primarily responsible for the dome room’s design.Andrea Pozzo began adorning the frescoes, whose works were destroyed after his death, so that Johann Michael Rottmayr could begin a completely new program in 1713.Antonio Galli da Bibiena (construction) and Martino Altomonte (altarpiece) designed the high altar.The paint has faded with time, giving the inside a drab appearance.

Joachim Georg Schwandtner, Superintendent of the Archconfraternity of the Most Holy Trinity, contributed an entrance porch made of Gutenstein marble that was erected in 1751-1753 according to plans by Andrea Altomonte.Other stone sculptures, such as the step stones, were provided by Master Johann Michael Strickner of Kaisersteinbruch.

Vienna, Austria