Imagine Laa split in two. Now you are standing in Unterlaa, once part of Lower Austria. Today, Unterlaa is a district within Vienna’s Favoriten. It is one of Vienna’s 89 Katastralgemeinden.
Unterlaa sits southeast of Favoriten, nestled along the Liesing River. As the river flows east, Unterlaa borders Kledering. Kledering is already part of Schwechat in Lower Austria. To the south, Unterlaa meets the Lower Austrian communities of Lanzendorf and Leopoldsdorf. The Katastralgemeinde covers 338.11 hectares.
Originally, Unterlaa and Oberlaa were one. They were both known as Laa. In 1873, larger uninhabited sections became part of Vienna. In 1938, after Austria joined the German Reich, Vienna expanded. Oberlaa and Unterlaa were incorporated into Greater Vienna. This was confirmed in 1954 after World War II.
The Johannes Church of the Malteser Order stands on Klederinger Street in Unterlaa. This small church has a long history. A Roman settlement existed here and south on Johannes Mountain. Possibly a church was first built during the Carolingian era. The Johanniter Order acquired the land and church in the late 13th century. They also ran a hospital according to their order’s rules. The Holy Sepulchre Chapel is also remarkable. It was built after the model in Jerusalem.
The Favoriten District Museum has an outpost by the Johannes Church. It documents the area’s archaeological digs. Unterlaa’s church is often called the oldest existing church in Vienna.
The center of Unterlaa sits west of the church around Unterlaaer Platz. An old mill, the Unterschlächige Mühle, stands by the Liesing. The year 1779 is visible above the gate. Next door at 169 Klederinger Street is the Prentlhof. It was once part of an 18th-century hunting lodge. The Prentl family bought the building from the Malteser Order in 1840. A notable coat-of-arms cartouche is above the entrance. Inside are rooms with wall paintings of hunting scenes.
Unterlaa retains a rural feel. Several religious statues dot the fields. The Sebastian Cross stands north by the railway tracks. It marks a former plague pit from 1713. A statue of Saint Sebastian sits under a gable roof. On the other side of the train tracks is the Red Cross. It is a wooden cross painted red and shows the crucifixion. A brick chapel stands at Scheunenstrasse and Georg-Wiesmayer-Gasse. It was once a station on the pilgrimage route from Wieden to Maria-Lanzendorf. The original 1747 painting is in the Favoriten District Museum. A mosaic in the chapel shows Christ on the Mount of Olives.
A path leads south to the city limits. There stands the Guardian Angel Cross. It was built in 1694, also on the way to Maria Lanzendorf. The statue shows a guardian angel with a child. On Johannes Mountain is the Immaculata column from 1662. Four relief images are under the Mary figure. A hunting chapel dedicated to Saint Eustachius was erected next to the column in 1994. A stone statue of John of Nepomuk stands on the bridge over the Liesing.
Important infrastructure includes the Vienna-Southeast transformer station on Johannes Mountain. Also, there is a water reservoir and pumping station on Scheunenstrasse. The Third Vienna Water Main from the Mitterndorf Basin leads here. The water reservoir is Vienna’s largest. The pumping station sends water to the Rosenhügel reservoir. It also sends water to the Laaer Berg reservoir.
The Unterlaa coat-of-arms features a red Malteser cross on a gold background. It is a reference to the Malteser cross atop the Johannes Church Unterlaa.