St. Rupert’s Church

The Ruprechtskirche (St. Rupert’s Church) is a Romanesque church in Vienna, Austria. St. Rupert’s Church, traditionally regarded as the city’s oldest church, is dedicated to Saint Rupert of Salzburg, patron saint of Vienna’s salt merchants. The church is located in one of the city’s oldest sections, the Roman Vindobona.

The Ruprechtskirche is now being debated as the oldest church in Vienna. The discovery of old foundations beneath St. Peter’s Church and old burials beneath St. Stephen’s Cathedral has called into question the certainty of this title.

History

The church was founded around 740, according to mythology.The first known reference was in 1200, in a document referring to a donation to the Schottenstift from Duke Heinrich II Jasomirgott.The Ruprechtskirche, Vienna’s oldest church, was also included in this bequest.Today, however, this is incorrect; while the original Peterskirche was the oldest church in Vienna, the Ruprechtskirche is the oldest church in Vienna that has been maintained.

The Ruprechtskirche is on the grounds of the old Roman military camp Vindobona.Following the demolition of the Roman colony, it was supposed that a nucleus of later Vienna arose in the region around the Ruprechtskirche, although this has yet to be archaeologically proved.The first parish church in Vienna is thought to be the first Peterskirche, which goes back to late antiquity and whose parish rights were handed to St. Stephen’s Cathedral in 1147 (after the Treaty of Mautern).

The church that stands now has been changed and rebuilt multiple times.The earliest remaining walls (the walls of the nave with the gallery and the lower floors of the tower with the Romanesque biforia) date from the early 12th century.The church was devastated during a huge fire in 1276 that burned practically the whole city center, and it was later rebuilt in Gothic style (a new, polygonal apse was built, and the tower was raised by one floor).A Gothic side nave was probably erected to the right side of the nave in the middle of the 14th century, and the south wall of the nave was pierced through by three pointed arches.The year 1439 is inscribed on an AEIOU on the gallery parapet. This is Emperor Friedrich III’s motto, and the year he became Duke of Austria.

According to the 1622 inscription, salt official Georg Nagl had the decaying Ruprechtskirche rebuilt, and Johann Baptist Bartolotti von Partenfeld funded the restorations from 1701 to 1703.Kaiser stone from the Kaiser quarry was used for floor slabs at the entry door as well as the steps of a tiny stairway leading to the gallery.

Amenities

The earliest stained glass windows in Vienna (in the middle of the apse, 3rd quarter of the 13th century) and 22 modern stained glass windows by Lydia Roppolt since 1993 may be seen in the Ruprechtskirche.The three huge nave windows on the right are dominating here, a cycle on the theme “Praise God for salvation from the deepest need”: Daniel in the lions’ cave, Jonah with the whale, and the three youths in the burning furnace.The other windows have a “Praise of Creation” theme.Heinrich Tahedl (1949) designed the windows to the left and right of the Gothic windows in the apse.Ignaz Kienast designed the cast bronze tabernacle with barrel staves in 1998.

The church tower has three bells, two of which are historically significant.They’re still all rung by cable pull.

Vienna, Austria