Döbling Parish Church
Encyclopedia
Oberdöbling
Oberdöbling was an independent municipality until 1892 and is today a part of Döbling, the 19th district of Vienna. It is also one of the 89 Katastralgemeinden.- Geography :...
in the 19th district
Districts of Vienna
The districts of Vienna are 23 named city sections of Vienna, Austria, which are also numbered for easy reference. For centuries, district boundaries have changed...
of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Döbling
Döbling
Döbling is the 19th District in the city of Vienna, Austria . It is located on the north end from the central districts, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing...
.
History
The first reference to a church in Döbling dates from 1267, when a Ecclesia in Tobelico (church in Döbling) was mentioned in an official document, but it is not known where this church stood. The continuous existence of a church can be proven from the 15th century, as the names of the Döbling parish priests have been recorded since that time.The Döbling Parish Church was destroyed by Matthias Corvinus of Hungary
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary
Matthias Corvinus , also called the Just in folk tales, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458, at the age of 14 until his death...
in the 15th century, but it was quickly rebuilt. In 1640, the parish
Parish (Catholic Church)
In the Roman Catholic Church, a parish is the lowest ecclesiastical geographical subdivision: from ecclesiastical province to diocese to deanery to parish.-Requirements:A parish needs two things under common law to become a parish...
of Döbling was dissolved and the area was allocated to the parish of Währing. The church was destroyed for a second time during the second siege of Vienna
Battle of Vienna
The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...
in 1683; the remains were shored up but not rebuilt. The Johann-von-Nepomuk-Kapelle in the Döblinger Hauptstraße was used as a replacement until the parish church was restored following emperor Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
’s reform of the parishes and the restoration of Döbling to the status of an independent parish.
The church however quickly proved to be too small. It was rebuilt between 1826 and 1828 in line with designs drawn up by Josef Reininger and dedicated to Saint Paul. The church features a Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
main room; its temple-like appearance is typical for the period. The church’s three most prominent artistic features are the picture on the altar Bekehrung des heiligen Paulus (The conversion of Saint Paul) by Josef Schönmann (1829), the pictures on the side altars, which these are the work of J. Kreßler, the pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
, which dates from the early 19th century, and a wooden statue of Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
dating from the 18th century.