St. Joseph's Church, Kahlenberg, Austria Photo Print

"St. Joseph's Church on the Kahlenberg, Vienna, Austria" by Catherine Sherman. St. Joseph on Kahlenberg is a Catholic pilgrimage church located on the Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna, Austria. The architect Franz Anton Pilgram completed construction of the church in 1747 and it has been affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna since 1912. St. Joseph on Kahlenberg was built as a pilgrimage church in honour of St. Joseph, the patron saint of Austria. The church overlooks Vienna, offering spectacular views. The original church was heavily damaged in 1683, during the Second Siege of Vienna by the Ottomans. In 1628, Ferdinand II gave a plot of green land on the Josefsberg (also Josephsberg, today known as the Kahlenberg), to the Camaldolite Order. There, they founded their settlement, the Camaldolese Hermitage. Eleven years later, construction was mostly complete but would not be finished until 1683. In that year, St. Joseph’s Church was heavily damaged by fire due to the Second Turkish Siege of Vienna. In 1683, Vienna was under a 61-day siege by the Ottomans, the Second Siege of Vienna. Like the First in 1529, this siege was unsuccessful, and Vienna could not be captured.