Breitenfeld Church, Parish church in Josefstadt, Vienna, Austria.
Breitenfeld Church is a Roman Catholic parish church on Uhlplatz in the Josefstadt district, dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi. Alexander Wielemans built it as a brick structure in the Lombard early Renaissance style, using Trentino and Karst marble. The interior has three naves and seats 2000 to 2400 people; the high altar and pulpit are made of Grisignana marble.
The church was planned as a memorial to Emperor Franz I, who died in 1835; the Breitenfeld judge Karl Georg Gaber pushed the project and a building society founded in 1839 collected donations across the monarchy. The archdiocese and the Schottenstift long opposed it, and the architectural competition was only held in 1886. Alexander Wielemans's winning design was approved in 1887, the foundation stone was laid in 1894, and the church was consecrated on 18 June 1898. Bomb damage in 1945 was repaired between 1947 and 1958.
The church serves as a gathering place for the local community, where residents come together for worship and social occasions. Its role as a parish center shapes the rhythm of daily life in the Josefstadt district.
The main portal faces the Hernalser Gürtel, not the Breitenfeld quarter, so approach from Uhlplatz behind the church. The U6 Stadtbahn viaduct runs directly alongside, and from its elevated track there is a direct view of the main portal. The church is a listed monument; it is an active parish church, so visits fit around services.
The organ is Vienna's second-largest playable church organ after the one in St. Stephen's Cathedral. Built in 1931 by Rieger for Innsbruck Cathedral in a 1725 case by Johann Caspar Humpel, it was moved here and rebuilt from 1999 in a new oak case, with about 5,000 pipes and 56 stops; it was inaugurated in 2001.
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