Vienna has many churches. Like in most ancient European cities, some churches go back 1000 years. You’ll find gothic cathedrals, and baroque basilicas, but I have a soft spot for Otto Wagner’s, “only” 104 year old Kirche am Steinhof, the church built exclusively for the patients and staff of the psychiatric clinic by the same name.
Wagner was a city planner, building public edifices like subway and commuter train stations. He rejected the opulent “historistic” (Austrian “victorian”) style and joined the “Vienna Secession”, an artistic group that shared his believes, creating the Viennese “Jugenstil”. World famous Austrian painter Gustav Klimt was a member as well.
The Kirche am Steinhof is considered the first “modern” church in Europe.
Open to the public on Saturdays from 3-5PM. Holy Mass on Sundays and Holidays at 9AM.
“Art has to fit the living and the mistress of art is necessity” Otto Wagner
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