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34-518: Planned by Heinrich von Ferstel , the Wasagymnasium was built between 1869 and 1871 and was officially inaugurated on 16 October 1871. For many decades the school was popular amongst the cultured Jewish bourgeoisie. In 1900, around 70% of the students were Jewish, whereas in 1938 there were only around 50% Jewish students. The Anschluss to the Third Reich put an end to this in 1938 and

68-611: A campaign to create a church to thank God for saving the Emperor's life. Funds for construction were solicited from throughout the Empire. The church was dedicated in 1879 on the silver anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Empress Elisabeth. The origin of the Votivkirche derives from a failed assassination attempt on Emperor Franz Joseph by Hungarian nationalist János Libényi on 18 February 1853. During that time, when

102-402: A long knife. The blow was deflected by the heavy golden covering embroidered on the Emperor's stiff collar. Although his life was spared, the attack left him bleeding from a deep wound. A civilian passer-by, Dr. Joseph Ettenreich, came to the Emperor's assistance, and Count O'Donnell struck Libényi down with his sabre, holding him until the police guards arrived to take him into custody. As he

136-464: A new and individual design concept. Furthermore, the Votivkirche was built with one single architect exercising supervision over its entire construction, and not by several generations, as were the cathedrals in the Middle Ages. Construction began in 1856, and it was dedicated twenty-six years later on April 24, 1879, the occasion of the silver jubilee of the royal couple. The church was one of

170-738: A number of private dwellings and villas in Brünn and Vienna. The more important buildings designed during his later years (passing over the churches at Schonau near Teplitz , really products of his earlier activity) are the palace of Archduke Ludwig Victor , his winter palace in Klessheim , the palace of Prince Johann II of Liechtenstein in the Rossau near Vienna, the palace of the Austro-Hungarian Lloyd's, in Trieste , but above all

204-409: A transept. This transept has the same height as the nave, while the aisles are only half as high and half as wide as the nave. The side chapels in the transept are as high and wide as the aisles. The choir is surrounded by an ambulatory with apsidioles and a Lady chapel. This imposing church constitutes a harmonious whole through the proportions, arrangement, spaciousness and unity of style of all

238-612: Is made out of white sandstone , similar to the Stephansdom, and therefore has to be constantly renovated and protected from air-pollution and acid rain , which tends to colour and erode the soft stone. The church has undergone extensive renovations after being badly damaged during World War II. Since its architectural style is quite similar to the Stephansdom , it often gets mistaken for it by tourists, in part because both churches have patterned tiling on their roofs. In reality

272-651: Is painted with allegorical representations of the four cardinal virtues , while the Holy Spirit , in the form of a dove, is portrayed on the boss . In the spandrel on the front, one can see a mosaic of the Blessed Virgin Mary in her title as the Immaculate Conception , trampling on a snake. This was a gift of Pope Pius IX . In the spire at the top of the ciborium, stands Christ surrounded by four angels. The four side chapels in

306-721: The Austrian Museum for Applied Art (completed in 1871), with its imposing arcaded court. Next comes the University of Vienna (1871–84). He was also an author of the project of the reconstruction in the Neo-Gothic style the evangelical Church's of Saviour in Bielsko (1881–1882). Through a technical error his design for the Berlin Reichstag building received no award. In 1866 Ferstel was appointed professor at

340-682: The Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls , both in Rome . The marble altar is decorated with panels with glass mosaic inlays work. and is supported by six alabaster columns. A gilded retable stands above the altar, at the bottom of which is the tabernacle , flanked by enameled panels depicting two scenes from the Old Testament: the Sacrifice of Isaac and the dream of Joseph . Above

374-636: The Church Fathers : Saint Augustine , Saint Gregory , Saint Jerome , and Saint Ambrose . These half-reliefs are framed inside sunken medaillons with a gilded mosaic background. Four pillars support the wooden soundboard and on top a spire with a statue of John the Baptist . And just as the sculptor of the Stephansdom has been portrayed under the pulpit of that church, the architect of the Votivkirche, Heinrich Ferstel, has been portrayed under this pulpit by Viktor Tilgner. The urban park surrounding

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408-606: The Polytechnic School , in 1871 chief government inspector of public works and in 1879 was raised to the rank of Freiherr . Votive Church, Vienna The Votivkirche (English: Votive Church ) is a neo-Gothic style church located on the Ringstraße in Vienna , Austria. Following the attempted assassination of Emperor Franz Joseph in 1853, the Emperor's brother Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian inaugurated

442-513: The Austrian Empire, German lands, England , and France were submitted. Originally, the plans were to include the neighbouring Allgemeines Krankenhaus and create a campus fashioned after the plans of Oxford and Cambridge University . Another plan was to create a national cathedral for all the people of the empire. However, because of spiraling costs and the changing political situation, this plan had to be downsized. The jury choose

476-476: The Emperor was in residence at the Hofburg Palace , he took regular walks around the old fortifications for exercise in the afternoons. During one such stroll, while walking along one of the outer bastions with one of his officers, Count Maximilian Karl Lamoral O'Donnell von Tyrconnell , the twenty-one-year-old Libényi attacked the twenty-three-year-old Emperor from behind, stabbing him in the collar with

510-482: The Emperor's deliverance was lost, and although otherwise faithful to the original design, the replacement took on a less monarchical and more religious tone. This impressive altar catches the eye with its gilded retable and an elaborate ciborium over it. The artist Joseph Glasser drew his inspiration for the ciborium from examples in Italian Gothic churches, such as the Basilica of St. John Lateran and

544-768: The educational centre for Chinese in Vienna. The Wasagymnasium has two gyms, one in the main school building and another bigger gym in a different building, located at Wasagasse 20, 1090 Vienna. Since 2007, the Wasagymnasium is also the location of the Nox Latina, the long night of Latin, organised together with two other Viennese secondary schools and the University of Vienna. 48°13′00″N 16°21′42″E  /  48.21667°N 16.36167°E  / 48.21667; 16.36167 Heinrich von Ferstel Freiherr Heinrich von Ferstel (7 July 1828 – 14 July 1883)

578-462: The elements. The Emperor window, donated by the City of Vienna, depicted the delivrance of the Emperor, saved from assassination by Maximilian Graf O'Donnell von Tyrconnell, but this original theme was lost when the windows were destroyed during World War II. The replacement window was restored by the City of Vienna in 1964, albeit modified to reflect the changing times. The detail of the actual moment of

612-589: The fates of former Jewish students. Furthermore, the school also installed a commemorative plaque, honouring and remembering all the students and teachers who were victims of Nazism. Known as one of the most demanding schools in Austria , the Wasagymnasium offers a traditional humanistic education with a focus on classical languages as well as a focus on modern languages. Furthermore, the school also offers an education with an emphasis on science. Its students regularly participate in different competitions, most notable

646-480: The first buildings to be built on the Ringstraße . Since the city walls still existed at that point, the church had no natural parishioners. At that time it was meant as a garrison church, serving the many soldiers that had come to Vienna in the wake of 1848 Revolution. The church is not located directly on the boulevard but along a broad square (now the Sigmund Freud Park) in front of it. The Votivkirche

680-401: The project of Heinrich von Ferstel (1828–1883), who, at the time, was only 26. He chose to build the cathedral in the neo-Gothic style, borrowing heavily from the architecture of Gothic French cathedrals. Because of this concept, many people mistake this church for an original Gothic church. However, the Votivkirche is not a servile imitation of a French Gothic cathedral, but rather embodies

714-666: The school was relocated. Instead, the Gau administration of the Reichsgau Niederdonau used the school building as its headquarters. In the meanwhile, the Wasagymnasium used the school building of the Schottengymnasium , which was shut down by the Nazis, from 1938 until 1945. In 2007, a group of students and their teacher organised a school project, called Erinnern (German for " Remember "), in order to research

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748-541: The style of the Early Renaissance (1856–60), known as the Palais Ferstel . Designing public buildings in the inner city and Ringstrasse area, the expansion of the city of Vienna enabled Ferstel, with Rudolf Eitelberger , to develop civic architecture along artistic lines ( Burgomaster 's residence, Stock Exchange 1859). At the same time he had also the opportunity of putting his ideas into practice in

782-534: The tabernacle is a niche with a crucifix. Niches surrounding the tabernacle contain statues of angels and various saints. These are: on the left side, statues of the patron saints of the church, Charles Borromeo , and of the founder, Maximilian of Lorch ; on the right side, Hilary of Poitiers and Bernard of Clairvaux . The ciborium is supported by four massive red granite columns. It opens up into four pointed arches, crowned with gables and flanked by pinnacles with statues of saints in their niches. The cross vault

816-684: The transept are as high and wide as the aisles : the Rosary chapel, the Chapel of the Cross, the Bishops’ chapel and the baptistry. They form side aisles in the transept, giving the strange impression that the transept is composed of three aisles. Each of these four transept chapels display on their wall pillars four statues of saints. The famous polychrome Antwerp altar in Late-Gothic style (ca. 1530)

850-766: The two churches differ in age by more than 700 years. The design of this church has been closely imitated in the Gedächtniskirche in Speyer , Germany, the Cathedral of Saint Helena in Helena, Montana , U.S.A., and the Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk in Ostend , Belgium. The Votivkirche has the typical form of a Gothic cathedral : The interior consists of a nave and two aisles , crossed by

884-636: The unsuccessful assassination attempt, the Emperor's brother, Maximilian — later Emperor of Mexico — called upon communities throughout the Empire for donations to a new church on the site of the attack. The church was to be a votive offering for the rescue of Franz Joseph and "a monument of patriotism and of devotion of the people to the Imperial House." The church plans were established in an architectural competition in April 1854. 75 projects from

918-408: The various language competitions in which the students of the Wasagymnasium were able to achieve many awards in the past few years. The University of Vienna cooperates with the Wasagymnasium and offers student teacher internships for its university students. Several teachers from the Wasagymnasium also teach at the University of Vienna. The school building of the Wasagymnasium is also used by

952-757: Was a count in the German nobility by virtue of his great-grandfather, was afterwards made a Count of the Habsburg Empire and received the Commander's Cross of the Royal Order of Leopold. His customary O'Donnell arms were augmented by the initials and shield of the ducal House of Austria and also the double-headed eagle of the Empire. These arms are emblazoned on the portico of No. 2 Mirabel Platz in Salzburg , where O'Donnell later built his residence. After

986-648: Was an Austrian architect and professor, who played a vital role in building late 19th-century Vienna . The son of Ignaz Ferstel (1796–1866), a bank clerk and later director of the Austrian national bank in Prague , Heinrich Ferstel, after wavering for some time between the different arts, finally decided on architecture. From 1847 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna under Eduard van der Nüll and August Sicard von Sicardsburg . After several years during which he

1020-606: Was awarded the prize in the competition for the Votive Church ( Votivkirche ) in Vienna (1855) over 74 contestants. He built it between 1856 and 1879. After his death it was proposed by Sir Tatton Sykes as a model for the new Westminster Cathedral in London. Another of Ferstel's monumental works belonging to the same period is the head office of the Austrian National Bank and stock exchange in Vienna, in

1054-615: Was being led away, the failed assassin yelled in Hungarian, "Long live Kossuth !" Franz Joseph insisted that his assailant not be mistreated. After Libényi's execution at Spinnerin am Kreuz in Favoriten for attempted regicide , the Emperor characteristically granted a small pension to Libenyi's mother. Dr. Ettenreich, who quickly overwhelmed the attacker, was later elevated to nobility by Franz Joseph for his bravery, and became Joseph von Ettenreich. Count O'Donnell, who up until then

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1088-600: Was in Italy, however, where he was sent as a bursar in 1854, that he was converted to the Renaissance style of architecture, and his admiration for Bramante . He began to use polychromy by means of Graffito decoration and terracotta. This device, adapted from the Early Renaissance and intended to convey a fuller sense of life, he employed later in the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts . While still in Italy he

1122-574: Was in disrepute because of his part in the 1848 Revolution , he finished his studies in 1850 and entered the atelier of his uncle, Friedrich August von Stache, where he worked at the votive altar for the chapel of St. Barbara in St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna and co-operated in the restoration and construction of many castles, chiefly in Bohemia . Journeys of some length into Germany, Belgium, Holland, and England confirmed his tendency towards Romanticism . It

1156-531: Was in the Rosary chapel till 1986, but is now located in the Museum. The Renaissance sarcophagus of Nicholas, Graf von Salm (defender of Vienna during the Turkish siege in 1529) stands in the baptistry. It was set up as a token of gratitude by emperor Ferdinand I . The hexagonal Neo-Gothic pulpit stands on six marble pillars. The front panels show us in the middle a preaching Christ, flanked on both sides by

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