{"id":17061,"date":"2019-07-04T04:59:44","date_gmt":"2019-07-04T03:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=17061"},"modified":"2025-04-25T11:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T10:30:00","slug":"augustinerkirche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/augustinerkirche\/","title":{"rendered":"The Augustinerkirche"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Augustinerkirche-facade.jpg\" alt=\"Augustinerkirche facade\" class=\"wp-image-17018\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Augustinerkirche-facade.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Augustinerkirche-facade-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Sometimes unassuming walls hide long and colourful histories. And so it is with Vienna&#8217;s Augustinerkirche, the Habsburg monarchy&#8217;s court church for almost 300 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Dates back to the 14th century<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Numerous Habsburg connections<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Various monarchs married here<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Anton Bruckner played here regularly<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be sure to view the Canova memorial inside<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/hofburg-palace-tickets-l124617\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_HofburgVenue\" rel=\"sponsored\">tour or experience<\/a>* in the Hofburg area<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/empress-elisabeth\/\">Empress Elisabeth in Vienna<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/churches\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"28720\">Other churches<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Imperial Connection<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/augustinerkirche.jpg\" alt=\"The Augustinerkirche\" class=\"wp-image-44243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/augustinerkirche.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/augustinerkirche-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The fa\u00e7ade spurns the decorative variety of many other city centre churches)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vienna has a fair few old buildings, but the Augustinerkirche (Augustinian church) on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/josefsplatz\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"30648\">Josefsplatz<\/a> square is one of the oldest, dating back to 1327.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frederick I (Duke of Austria and Styria) founded the church in what was, however, only his second-greatest achievement. His first was somehow becoming known as Frederick the Handsome.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/augustinerkirche1460.jpg\" alt=\"Part of a medieval church map\" class=\"wp-image-82810\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/augustinerkirche1460.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/augustinerkirche1460-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Part of the Albertinian map from sometime after 1460 (based on a document from 1421\/22) showing the Augustinerkirche church near the original castle home of the monarch; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 31018; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, the church went through various changes in the intervening centuries and now merges gracefully into the surrounding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/hofburg\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"2708\">Hofburg complex<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As such, the Augustinerkirche is not a self-contained landmark like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/stefansdom\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"294\">Stephansdom cathedral<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, the building shares a near-continuous fa\u00e7ade with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/albertina\/\">Albertina<\/a> art museum and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/prunksaal\/\">National Library<\/a> with its extraordinary state hall.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"345\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/augustinerkirche1724.jpg\" alt=\"Copperplate engraving of the Augustinerkirche published in 1724\" class=\"wp-image-59882\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/augustinerkirche1724.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/augustinerkirche1724-300x207.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The Augustinerkirche in a 1724 copperplate drawn by Salomon Kleiner, engraved by Hieronymus Sperling and published by Johann Andreas d. \u00c4. Pfeffel; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 105765\/14; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The modest, unassuming appearance can mislead visitors, since the church is redolent with history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From 1634 to 1918, for example, it served as the official court church for the Habsburg monarchs. The hearts of many of them rest in a crypt within the church walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most famously, perhaps, the church played host to various royal weddings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><em>Ad:<\/em><br><\/div><div data-tiqets-widget=\"discovery\" data-cards-layout=\"horizontal\" data-slug-ids=\"exp206741,exp238032\" data-partner=\"visitingvienna\" data-tq-campaign=\"DA_ConcTour\"><\/div><script defer src=\"https:\/\/widgets.tiqets.com\/loader.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the couples joined together beneath its roof:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Emperor Franz Joseph and Elisabeth of Bavaria (1854)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Crown Prince Rudolf and Stephanie of Belgium (1881)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Empress Maria Theresa and Franz Stephan of Lorraine (1736)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Archduchess Marie Louise and Napoleon Bonaparte (1810)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Maria Antonia (Marie Antoinette) and King Louis XVI of France (1770)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The last two weddings mentioned took place in the absence of the bridegroom (which was a thing in those days). For example, Napoleon asked Marie Louise&#8217;s uncle, Archduke Karl, to represent him.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"357\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/augkirche.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-34844\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/augkirche.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/augkirche-300x214.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Vinzenz Katzler&#8217;s 1879 <em>The Marriage in the Augustiner-Kirche on April 24th 1854<\/em> portraits the critical moment at the wedding of Franz Joseph and Elisabeth; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. W 2565; reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The archduke later wrote to Napoleon to note that (my translation):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>The celebratory role which your imperial majesty was kind enough to delegate to me was a particularly pleasant one<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>No doubt he got an extra slice of wedding cake for his trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A plaque on an outer wall commemorates another famous event in the church&#8217;s history. The Polish King, Jan Sobieski, attended Mass in the Augustinerkirche after liberating Vienna from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/the-1683-siege-of-vienna\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"29264\">Turkish siege of 1683<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"370\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/jansobieskiplaque.jpg\" alt=\"Jan Sobieski plaque\" class=\"wp-image-45994\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/jansobieskiplaque.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/jansobieskiplaque-300x222.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The Sobieski plaque)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Inside the Augustinian Church<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Given its long history and association with the monastic Order of St Augustine (who manage the church), you find little of the ostentatious decoration you might be used to from the likes of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/peterskirche\/\">Peterskirche<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some 700 years of architectural change and treasures are beyond my capabilities to describe, but two features stand out when inside the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first is the marble memorial to Archduchess Marie Christine (1742-1798), sculpted by Antonio Canova and commissioned by her husband (Albert of Albertina fame), and completed in 1805.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/augustinerkirchecanova.jpg\" alt=\"Canova memorial inside the Augustinerkirche\" class=\"wp-image-71193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/augustinerkirchecanova.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/augustinerkirchecanova-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Canova&#8217;s memorial photographed around 1875 by Michael Frankenstein &amp; Comp. photo studio; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 78079\/12\/1; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Various symbolic figures form a funeral procession that seems to enter a darkened gateway to the underworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The pews make up another intriguing feature, since they differ from each other quite significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One set is relatively simple and unadorned. These seats apparently stem from the time of Emperor Joseph II (1741-1790), who disliked unnecessary pomp and circumstance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other pews have rich, detailed carvings and date back to before Joseph and his austerity philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/augustinianchurch.jpg\" alt=\"Entrance to the Augustinian Church\" class=\"wp-image-45993\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/augustinianchurch.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/augustinianchurch-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(A innocent gateway to the past)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tickets &amp; visitor tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s no charge to enter the church (donations are obviously welcome), unless a concert is taking place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, the Augustinerkirche has a strong reputation for its church music and not just in association with services, with fairly-regular organ recitals: the famous composer, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/bruckner\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"39444\">Anton Bruckner<\/a>, used to play the organ here in the late 1800s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note that this is a busy working church, so services may be on when you visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get to the Augustinerkirche<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The church is about as central as you can get and so away from the tram lines that can only skirt the old town. The public entrance is on the Josefsplatz side. It&#8217;s an early stop on my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/transport\/walking-tour\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"50322\">suggested walking tour<\/a> of the city centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Subway: take the U3 or U1 to Stephansplatz and walk along the Graben and up Dorotheergasse to reach the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bus: take the 2A to Albertinaplatz or the 1A to Habsburgergasse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Augustinerstra\u00dfe 3, 1010 Vienna | <a href=\"https:\/\/augustinerkirche.augustiner.at\/\">Website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1asmHlbVpicbQLt1557vf6l4l0zQ\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes unassuming walls hide long and colourful histories. And so it is with Vienna&#8217;s Augustinerkirche, the Habsburg monarchy&#8217;s court church for almost 300 years. The Imperial Connection (The fa\u00e7ade spurns the decorative variety of many other city centre churches) Vienna has a fair few old buildings, but the Augustinerkirche (Augustinian church) on Josefsplatz square is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17018,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17061","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sights","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17061"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82816,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17061\/revisions\/82816"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}