Maria vom Berge Karmel, Modern church in Favoriten, Austria.
Maria vom Berge Karmel is a church at Stefan-Fadinger-Platz 1 in Favoriten, Vienna. Architect Hans Prutscher designed it after the American model as a lower and an upper church; the lower church was consecrated in 1929, while the upper church and tower, built to plans by Helene Koller-Buchwieser, were completed in 1958. The upper church holds a Walcker organ with 18 registers on two manuals and pedal, installed in 1964.
The Carmelites bought the site at Stefan-Fadinger-Platz in 1915 and built a wooden emergency church, consecrated on 8 September 1916, which burned down on 2 January 1928. Architect Hans Prutscher then designed a two-level church on the American model; the lower church was consecrated on 22 December 1929 and the upper church on 30 August 1942. A bombing on 21 February 1945 killed 140 people. The order sold the building to the Syriac Orthodox Church in September 2014, and the Catholic parish was dissolved on 1 January 2015.
Since 2015 the building has been the Syriac Orthodox church of St. Ephrem, which moved here from Lainz. The former Carmelite convent was dissolved in 2003, and the Archdiocese of Vienna brought the Filipino community to Maria Karmel. The church is now a centre of Syriac Orthodox worship in Favoriten.
The church is located at Stefan-Fadinger-Platz 1 and is easily accessible by public transportation. Multiple bus and tram routes serve the area, making it convenient to reach from different parts of Vienna.
The lower church served as an air-raid shelter after the Nazi authorities banned the church's associations; on 21 February 1945 a bomb hit killed 140 people. The upper church and tower were only built in 1957–58 to plans by Helene Koller-Buchwieser, and the Walcker organ of 1964 has 18 stops on two manuals and pedal.
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