Kirche Namen Jesu, Roman Catholic parish church in Meidling, Vienna, Austria
The Kirche Namen Jesu is a parish church in Meidling, Vienna, built in 1950 according to architect Josef Vytiska's plans and can hold approximately 1000 people. The brick building features a simple interior with wooden pews, a small altar, and tall windows that flood the space with natural light.
The church was built after World War II, following destruction of the previous building by bombing in 1944-1945 when the congregation temporarily held services in a nearby theater. The 1950 reconstruction preserved elements from the original church, including a wooden cross that survived the destruction.
Locals called the 1932 emergency church in a disused leather factory the "Zweigroschenkirche" (Two-Penny Church), because readers of the Zweigroschenblatt newspaper paid for most of it. Its interior came largely from Vorarlberg artists, as the church was founded by the Vorarlberg missionary Josef Gorbach. The Tyrolean Peter Sellemond carved the large wooden crucifix, which survived the war and is still used.
The church stands at Darnautgasse 3; the section of the former factory facing Schedifkaplatz was demolished and replaced in 1973 by a parish and residential building with a kindergarten. Services are held in the church, so time a visit outside them.
The wooden crucifix by Tyrolean sculptor Peter Sellemond survived the wartime bombing of the old church and hangs in the present building; in 2005 it was backed with a fusing-glass cross by Heinz Ebner, who also made the tabernacle. A Madonna by the same sculptor also survived.
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