All Saints Special: Maria Treu, Vienna

One of the masterpieces of Baroque architecture, Central European style, this church also features an amazing pipe organ once used by Anton Bruckner

So, my biggest “fear” about the Vienna box is now officially realised: once I began looking for any images of the Heldentor for my book, I continued to go through the first few of the dedicated boxes. In case you missed that one:

'Justice is the Foundation of Rule'

It proved almost impossible to stop, it was all so interesting to check out the place I grew up in. So, since it’s All Saints Day—or Allerheiligen, as I would call it in my mother tongue—I’ve got a special gift for you:

The Piarist church and (former) convent of Maria Treu located in Vienna’s 8th District. This is actually the heart of the ward where I grew up, if you can believe it. I went to school there, too, for a total of twelve years.

Construction began in 1697/98 in the later years of emperor Leopold I’s reign (r. 1658-1705) based on designs by renowned architect Lukas von Hildebrandt and it took until the 1750s for the façade to be completed. Inside, and apart from the pipe organ, the ceiling was decorated by Franz Anton Maulbertsch who spent the years from 1752-56 working on the frescoes.

In addition, the church was also the place in which several masterpieces of classical music premiered, incl. Joseph Haydn’s Missa in tempore belli (1796) and Franz von Supper’s Missa pro defunct (1855, a requiem in d minor). Von Suppé was none other than the composer of the patriotic march “Oh, thou my Austria”, which already made an appearance in these pages:

"Oh, thou my Austria!" Leoben in Styria Through the 20th Century

And now, without much further ado, a few postcards are in order.

Maria Treu Throughout the Ages

Above, a reproduction of the late 18th-century exterior of Maria Treu (note the two relatively small bell towers and compare them with the way they look now); both flanks of the church show the (former) Piarist colleges that are today a private Catholic primary school (on the left) and a public Gymnasium (which I attended, on the right). In the square in front of Maria Treu, a column with Mary Mother of God triumphing over Evil, which was dedicated in 1713 after a plague epidemic. The above postcard was never mailed, and it appears to be from after the Second World War.

By contrast, the second and third images are found on picture postcards printed on the occasion of the Catholics’ Day (Katholikentag) 1933 and it shows the Piarist church and the two colleges, as well as the column with Mary. Note that the two bell towers increased in height considerably (notice the triangular decorations right under the roofs, as opposed to the earlier, semi-circular ones).

I’ve already spoken of the interior, and I’ve also found a postcard showing it as it was before Vatican II (which also means this isn’t the church interior that I remember).

Another key feature of the church is its majestic pipe organ built between 1856-58 by the Karl Friedrich Ferdinand Buckow from Hirschberg (now Jelenia Góra) in Silesia, Poland. According to Maria Treu’s German Wikipedia entry, it has 36 organ stops on three manuals and 2416 individual pipes. It is currently undergoing renovations.

On 21 November 1861, Anton Bruckner [one of my favourite composers] took his practical composition examination on this organ. A plaque commemorating the event was donated by the Josefstadt district council and the Josefstadt Museum of Local History in 1961. The plaque bears the following inscription: “Anton Bruckner underwent the practical composer's examination on the organ of this church on 21 November 1861. Johann von Herbeck, the later court conductor, summarised the event in the memorable words: ‘He should have examined us’.”

I went past that plague twice each school day for twelve years.

Finally, a colour photograph of Maria Treu, c. 1970s:

When I went to school from the late 1980s onwards, there were no more parking spots on the square; in fact, there are outdoor seating areas belonging to a café and a pizza restaurant across the street.

For good measure, I shall mention that the right-hand bell tower houses Austria’s third-largest bell (which, in my time, I also helped to manually move, which we did once or twice per year on before Christmas and Easter services). Yes, they do have some mechanical ways of tolling it, but imagine the experience of being a teenager climbing up the old wooden staircases into the belfry with the aim of tolling the bell: it was quite something—and very loud, if you’re standing next to this massive bell.

All told, what a trip down memory lane this was—I hope you enjoyed it, too, and I wish you a peaceful All Saints Day.