Hasenleiten Parish Church

The Filialkirche Hasenleiten stands in Vienna’s 11th district of Simmering. It is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to St John Maria Vianney and is protected as a listed monument. The building replaced an earlier wooden church built for a military hospital during the First World War. That temporary chapel, donated by a Polish company, was blessed in November 1915 and later served as an emergency shelter before being restored by Jesuits in 1926. The parish was formally created in 1944 after the area gained its own council. The church is worth visiting for its unusual history and the figures connected with it. The first pastor, Karl Rudolf, later became a prelate at St Stephen’s Cathedral. Konrad Thurnher, who arrived in 1934, secured land for the present building and gave his name to a nearby street. The new church, designed by Ladislaus Hruska, was consecrated in December 1959 by Cardinal Franz König. Among later pastors, Anton Stilling is commemorated by a square in Simmering. Visitors find a modern brick church with clean lines and a tall slender tower. Inside, the single nave is plain and well lit by tall windows. The altar is dedicated to St John Maria Vianney, the Cure of Ars, whose statue stands at the front. The surrounding district is a quiet residential area with wide streets and small parks. A short walk leads to the Konrad-Thurnher-Gasse and the Anton-Stilling-Platz, named after the church’s long-serving pastors.