Church St-Josef, Roman Catholic church building in Margareten, Vienna, Austria
Church St-Josef is a church building in Vienna constructed between 1765 and 1769, consecrated in 1771, and located on Schönbrunner Straße in Margareten. The building displays late baroque architecture with vaulted ceilings, detailed paintings, side altars, and early 20th century stained glass windows, alongside four stone figures of saints on the exterior.
Built from 1765 to 1769 by master builder Franz Duschinger on the site of the Sonnenhof hospital chapel, the church was consecrated on 28 April 1771 in the presence of Maria Theresa, Joseph II and Archbishop Migazzi. It was intended for the poorhouse, as an inscription over the entrance recalls, and became a parish church in 1783. A portal porch and tower were added in 1903, a second bay in 1911/1912, and a parish hall at the choir in 1957–1959.
The parish was originally intended for the Sonnhof poorhouse, and an inscription above the entrance still reads "Den Armen zum Trost – Den Reichen zur Mahnung – Allen zum Heile". The high altar, designed in 1771 by Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg, holds Bartolomeo Altomonte's painting of the Holy Family.
The church stands at the corner of Schönbrunner Straße and Ramperstorffergasse in Margareten, the 5th district, reachable by the U4 station Margaretengürtel and several tram lines along the Gürtel. The entrance is on the portal side, where the four saint statues stand; the choir and the 1957–1959 parish hall addition lie to the east. Look for the Margarete figure on the east wall.
A plaque on the facade commemorates the blessing of Franz Schubert, with a portrait relief by Robert Ullmann from 1928. The organ case dates from 1821, while the current organ was built by Gerhard Hradetzky in 1987.
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