| Capuchin Church | |
|---|---|
|
Façade on Neuer Markt |
|
| Basic information | |
| Location | Vienna, Austria |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Year consecrated | 1632 |
| Leadership | P. Albert Michelitsch OFMCap[1] |
| Website | kapuziner.org |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural type | Church[2] |
| Direction of façade | ESE |
| Completed | 1632 |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 35 m |
| Width | 16 m |
| Width (nave) | 10 m |
The Capuchin Church (German: Kapuzinerkirche) in Vienna is the church and monastery of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. It is located on the Neuer Markt square in the Innere Stadt, near the imperial Hofburg Palace. The official name is Church of St. Mary of the Angels, but is commonly known in Vienna as the Capuchin Church.
The church is most famous for the Imperial Crypt, the final resting place for members of the Habsburg dynasty.
About 1599 the Capuchin brothers under Lawrence of Brindisi resided at Vienna on their way to Prague, where they had been sent by Pope Clement VIII in the course of the Counter-Reformation. The church was donated by will of Anna of Tyrol (1585 – 1618), consort of Holy Roman Emperor Matthias of Habsburg. Construction was delayed due to the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War and not finished until 1632, under the rule of Matthias' successor Ferdinand II. It was consecrated in 1632.
The aisleless church contains the tombs of friar Marco d'Aviano (d. 1699) and architect Donato Felice d'Allio (1761) as well as a pietà by Peter Strudel. Its subterranean mausoleum is the Imperial Crypt (German: Kaisergruft, though usually called Capuchin Crypt, German: Kapuzinergruft) that has been the principal place of entombment for the Habsburg dynasty, Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, and their descendants.
The lying in repose for the last heir to the Austrian and Hungarian throne, Otto von Habsburg, took place in a side chapel on 15 July 2011.
The church is also used daily by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter for the celebration of the 1962 extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Capuchin_Church,_Vienna Capuchin Church, Vienna] at Wikimedia Commons