Peeking through the trees, St. Hubertus Church stands as a testament to faith and community in Vienna. This church is dedicated to St. Hubertus and St. Christophorus. The story of St. Hubertus Church begins after World War I. Part of the Lainzer Tiergarten was opened for settlement. Several new settlements emerged. These included the SAT settlement and the Friedensstadt. Also, the police settlement, the Zollwachesiedlung, and the Heimscholle settlement were built.
The Lainzer parish church took the initiative. Their pastor, Anton Schrefel, used the emergency church. It lay on the Lainzerbach’s left side within Lainz parish. New settlements and the present church sit on the stream’s right. This area belonged to the Mauer parish and its pastor, Franz Gessl. This division caused conflicts during the founding activities. Priests from the Nazarener order cared for the emergency church. Schrefel enlisted Pater Josef Lappas from the Pallottiner Order. He acted as a mediator between Lainz and Mauer. The territorial disputes around the SAT settlement ended amicably. Monsignor Gessl extended his hand to Lappas. He said, “Let’s be on first-name terms.”
The Pallottiner Order served at the church until autumn 2023. Then, the Jesuit Order took over the pastoral care. The emergency church was once a workshop. It belonged to Councilor Halla on Dr. Schober Street 3. Today, it is near the Bettenstation of the Föhrenhof retirement home. A wooden cross marks the spot in the retirement home’s front garden. Prelate Karl Drexel held the first service in the emergency church on April 19, 1931. To distinguish it from other workshops, a tower and two bells were added. The Pfundner bell foundry in Vienna-Favoriten made them. Both bells were intended for the future church. They were dedicated to St. Hubertus and St. Christophorus.
Cardinal Friedrich Gustav Piffl wanted these patron saints. Hubertus was in memory of the former hunting area. Christophorus was chosen because no church in Vienna was dedicated to him. The number of middle-class cars rose sharply. This created the desire for such a dedication. Cardinal Piffl died before the bells’ consecration. Cardinal Theodor Innitzer performed the ceremony on July 23, 1933. Automobiles were blessed at the same time. Many middle-class citizens were impoverished then. Hildegard Burjan and Pastor Anton Schrefel founded an Elisabethtisch in the emergency church. This was a soup kitchen. The Hildegard-Burjan-Hof at Speisinger Straße 46 commemorates Burjan.
The Lainz parish bought the land for St. Hubertus Church in the police settlement. The church was built from 1934 to 1935. Architects Kurt Klaudy and Georg Lippert designed it. Architect Anton Liebe supervised the construction. Cardinal Theodor Innitzer consecrated it on November 15, 1935. Hans Alexander Brunner created the mosaic windows. Hans Becker painted the murals in the altar niche and on the choir walls. Karl Engel created the altar painting and frescoes of the church patrons. Mea Bratusch carved the Madonna and other figures at the Mary altar. Wolfgang Eisenbarth from Passau built the organ in 1996. Bishop Anton Berger consecrated it. Manfred Stubmann created the tabernacle, ambo, and candlesticks. St. Hubertus Church stands as a beacon. It reflects the community’s resilience and artistic devotion.