Paulanerkirche, Baroque parish church in Wieden, Vienna, Austria.
The Paulanerkirche is an early Baroque monastery church built on an Italian model, with an unknown architect and a plain north facade divided by Tuscan pilasters and topped by a triangular pediment. Two niches hold statues of Saint Francis of Paola and Saint Francis of Assisi. The interior is a three-bay barrel-vaulted hall with three side chapels on each side, and the tower with its onion dome stands east of the choir.
Emperor Ferdinand II brought the Order of Saint Francis of Paola to Vienna in 1626, and the friars began building the church the following year; it was consecrated in 1651 by Bishop Philipp Friedrich von Breuner. In 1683 the Turks burned it during the siege of Vienna, and rebuilding was completed by 1686. The tower followed in 1717, and the monastery was dissolved in 1784.
The church is popularly called Paulanerkirche after the Paulaner order, though it is dedicated to the holy guardian angels. Since April 2016 the daily services of the Priests' Fraternity of St. Peter have been held here in the Tridentine rite, alongside ordinary parish Masses. The high altar, completed in 1718, was donated by Vienna's Lakaien- und Hofbruderschaft, the court servants' confraternity.
The church stands at Irene-Harand-Platz, where Favoritenstraße branches off Wiedner Hauptstraße in the 4th district. The square in front was reduced in 1963 for traffic reasons, and the Schutzengelbrunnen fountain built there in 1846 now stands on Rilkeplatz. Since April 2016 the daily Masses of the Priests' Fraternity of St. Peter are held here in the Tridentine rite, alongside ordinary parish services, so the interior may be closed to visitors at those times.
The high altar, finished in 1718, was donated by Vienna's Lakaien- und Hofbruderschaft, a brotherhood of court servants, not by the Paulaner order. Its altarpiece of the guardian angels was painted in 1844 by Josef von Hempel, and a 16th-century Dutch Madonna and Child hangs in front of it.
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