Vinzentinerinnenkonvent Graz, Catholic monastery in Lend district, Graz, Austria
Vinzentinerinnenkonvent Graz is a convent of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Vincent de Paul in the Lend district, built from 1856 to 1858 to plans by Karl Schaumburg and rebuilt after severe damage in the Second World War. The convent encloses a courtyard containing the church of the Immaculate Conception, consecrated in 1860; its neo-Romanesque facade towers survived the 1944 bomb hits, while the interior was rebuilt in 1952–1954 by Karl Lebwohl as a plain three-nave hall church with four bays and an apse.
In 1841 Maria Josefa, Countess Brandis, founded the branch with support from the Sisters of Mercy of Munich and handed the sisters the civil hospital. The convent served as provincial headquarters of the Graz province, from 2004 of the Graz-Salzburg province, and since 2011 of the Graz-Central Europe province with houses in Hungary, Romania and hospital care in Istanbul. The monastery building was erected from 1856 to 1858 to plans by Karl Schaumburg and, like the church, was badly damaged in the Second World War and rebuilt.
The convent church is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, and the Marienhaus chapel holds a late Gothic wooden crucifix by Tilman Riemenschneider, carved 1480–1483. The church also has a Marian statue by Jakob Gschiel from 1859 and Stations of the Cross by Anton Hafner.
The monastery is located in the Lend district and visible from outside, with some areas open to visitors depending on current activities. It helps to check in advance which sections are accessible since parts of the complex remain in active use as residential and working areas.
The convent church lost all but its neo-Romanesque facade towers to bomb hits in 1944; the interior was rebuilt between 1952 and 1954 by Karl Lebwohl as a plain stepped hall. The choir wall carries mosaics and a Maria Immaculata statue by Jakob Gschiel dated 1859.
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