Architecture following medicine
Health decisions taken by an architect: rounded edges, running water, a floor made for cleaning.
C.Stadler/Bwag — CC BY-SA 4.0 · C.Stadler/Bwag — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Herzi Pinki — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Falk2 — CC BY-SA 4.0
On very limited days, usually Saturday or Sunday and within tours at set times. That is the most important constraint in planning it. Check the official site the day before, and do not rely on older information, as the hours change seasonally.
The church is an architectural landmark officially open to visitors on a ticket, and the hospital is still working. Respect that: keep to the marked route, avoid photographing patients or medical buildings, and stay within the visitor area.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet — be the first.
A church of 1907 designed by the architect Otto Wagner, among the most important Jugendstil buildings anywhere, standing inside the grounds of a psychiatric hospital on a hill in western Vienna. What makes it exceptional is that the whole design proceeds from its function: it was built for the hospital's patients, so the pews are angled deliberately, the floor slopes slightly for cleaning, the holy water runs rather than standing still for hygiene, and the edges are rounded to reduce injury. These are medical decisions taken by an architect, and they are rare in a religious building. The gilded copper dome is visible from a distance and gives the building the nickname of the lemon church among some Viennese. The stained glass is by Koloman Moser, a leading artist of the movement. A decisive practical point: the church opens to visitors on very limited days and times, usually at weekends and within guided tours. Do not go without checking — the site is far west of the city and needs transport, and arriving at a locked door is a poor experience.
Health decisions taken by an architect: rounded edges, running water, a floor made for cleaning.
The windows are by one of Jugendstil's leading artists.
Gilded copper visible from a distance, hence its local nickname.
Baumgartner Höhe, western Vienna