Opened in 1935, the Krankenhaus Göttlicher Heiland isn’t the building you’re standing before. This, my friends, is the Klosterkirche Zum Göttlichen Heiland. The Sisters of the Divine Savior, founded in 1849, arrived in Vienna around 1856, settling in Reindorf. They moved to Kaiserstrasse in Neubau in 1861. A convent, with a chapel dedicated to St. Joseph, was built in 1863. The chapel expanded between 1925 and 1926. Viennese architect Hans Prutscher transformed it into the three-aisled Klosterkirche Zum Göttlichen Heiland we see today. The main facade blends seamlessly with the street. It’s easy to miss that it’s a church. Notice the striking portal with two doors and a lintel featuring three fanlights. A Madonna and Child statue graces the console above the central door. Three figures stand in niches between the second-floor windows. They depict a saint, a blessing Christ, and a nun. Inside Zum Göttlichen Heiland, a basilica layout unfolds. A high nave is flanked by two lower aisles. Two-story galleries, connected at the back wall, rise above. A large crucifix hangs above a cloud ring with cherubic heads on the wall above the chancel arch. The lower chancel area has a domed roof with a large lantern. Murals by Josef Kastner adorn the protruding side pillars of the nave. They portray “Abraham’s Sacrifice” and “Melchizedek’s Sacrifice”. The mosaic work on the gallery parapets was created by the nuns themselves. The chancel shines with rich paintings. Christ’s Ascension, the Sermon on the Mount, the feeding of the 5000, the Resurrection, and the glorification by saints all find their place. The ornate high altar, designed by Hans Prutscher in 1926, echoes the nave’s design. The older altarpiece, painted by Carl Wurzinger in 1864, depicts the Transfiguration of Christ. Prutscher also designed the pulpit with its polygonal basket.
Центральный дом работников искусств
Step through the grand wooden doors of the Central House of the Workers of Art, and you’ll be transported to