Vienna - Lazaristenkirche / Vincentian Church Immaculate Conception by Mark Sukhija

The Vincentian order are an order religious order of the Roman Catholic Church founded by St Vincent de Paul (1581 - 1660.) As the community's first house was dedicated to St Lazarus the people called the Vincentian priests "Lazarists."

Friedrich Baron von Schmidt (1825 to 1891) designed this Neo-Gothic building which was constructed between 1860 and 1862. The Lazaristenkirche was the first church designed by von Schmidt in Austria and he went on to design the City Hall in Vienna later.

Caridnal Othmar von Rauscher dedictated the church to the name "Immaculate Conception" on the eve of December 8th 1862.

The four Early Fathers of the Occident are shown in the Pulpit, the large southern window of the crossed small nave and the north window.

The cross alter on the right of the small nave is the only Braroque object in the Church - the "Bear's Cross" which is made of oil-impregnated, oriental wood.

The modern galss window behind the baptismal font is a replica of the window in the Annunciation Chirch in Nazareth.

The wooden decoration of the organ balustrade depicts saints who were at some point active in Vienna. The original organ dates from 1862 was is by Matthäus Mauracher and had two manuals and 25 stops. Johann M Kauffman enlarged the organ in 1927 to 52 stops and four manuals and is the largest late-Romantic organ in Vienna. The organ also has what is called a "Fernwerk" which is a small organ housed in the attic of the church and the sound from it enteres the church via an opening above the front alter.

The Lazaristenkirch church website is at http://www.lazaristenpfarre.at/ which gives service details etc. The church is at Kaiserstrasse 7, 1070 Vienna.

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Primary source: Pamphlet available at the Church.

Further reading