Kirche der Barmherzigen Brüder, Baroque church in Leopoldstadt, Vienna, Austria.
Kirche der Barmherzigen Brüder is a Roman Catholic church at Taborstraße 16 in Vienna's Leopoldstadt district. Its narrow three-axis facade has Tuscan pilasters and a two-storey tower with Ionic and Corinthian pilasters and side volutes from the late 17th century; the tower helm was reconstructed in 1989. The three-bay nave with square side chapels and the two-bay choir date from the late 17th century, the choir extended in 1733 and stuccoed in 1736. The high altar (1735/36) fills the altar wall, with figures by Lorenzo Mattielli and Daniel Gran's 1736 painting of Christ's baptism.
The church was established in 1711 by the Brothers of Mercy, a Catholic religious order dedicated to providing care for the sick and poor. Over the following centuries, it maintained its role as a center of both spiritual and social work in the district.
The church belongs to the Brothers of Mercy, a Catholic order devoted to caring for the sick; the monastery church was consecrated 400 years ago, and its 2021 organ restoration marked that anniversary. A memorial plaque to Joseph Haydn, dated 1932, hangs beside the portal, and a stone figure of John the Baptist from the 18th century stands in a niche in the tower's lower storey.
The church opens for regular services and can be visited at other times when accessible, allowing visitors to experience the interior and its decorations. It is located near the Prater area, making it convenient to include in a walk through the historic neighborhood.
The organ's historic case dates from 1765 and comes from the workshop of builder Johann Hencke; the present instrument was built in 1933 by Johann M. Kauffmann. In 2021 the Scheffler workshop restored it for the monastery church's 400th anniversary, and it was consecrated on 23 June 2022. It has 35 stops on three manuals and pedal.
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