Description of the attraction
Votivkirche Church (Votive Church) is a Roman Catholic church located in the center of Vienna on the Ringstrasse near the university. It is one of the most important neo-Gothic religious architectural monuments in the world. The Votivkirche is 99 meters high.
The decision to build the church was made after a journeyman attacked Emperor Franz Joseph I with a knife on 18 February 1853. The knife stuck into the button, thanks to which the emperor survived. The emperor's brother urged people to collect donations to build a church in Vienna in gratitude for the emperor's miraculous salvation. Some 300,000 people are known to have donated. By April 1854, all donations had been collected, after which a competition was announced among architects. The preference was given to the project of Heinrich Ferstel. The first stone was laid by Emperor Franz Joseph himself on April 24, 1856 in the presence of many people, clergy, bishops and archbishops. The construction of the church took as long as 20 years. The interior decoration continued for another 3 years. So, on April 24, 1879, the grand opening of the Votivkirche took place.
By order of the emperor, soldiers who arrived in the capital after the revolution of 1848 were housed in the church. Votivkirche was one of the first buildings on the Ringstrasse and was located on the Maximilianplatz.
Votivkirche was built in the Gothic style. This is evidenced by the towers and spire of the transept, the facade, the pillars and the rose window. The church consists of a main and side aisles, which are two times lower than the main one.
The Votivkirche church is built of white sandstone and therefore needs frequent renovation. A large-scale restoration was carried out after the Second World War.
