Vierzehn-Nothelfer-Kirche, Eggenberg

The Vierzehn-Nothelfer-Kirche is a Roman Catholic church beside the Eggenberg hospital run by the Brothers of Mercy. It stands on the lower slopes of the Plabutsch hill in Graz’s 14th district. The building was commissioned by Johann Anton II Joseph von Eggenberg and completed around 1684 after a start in 1680. The church carries the rare dedication to the Fourteen Holy Helpers, chosen during a time of plague. Its sandstone façade shows contemporary figures and decorative niches. Inside, Alessandro Serena’s stucco work frames an alliance coat of arms for the Eggenberg and Sternberg families. Secco paintings by Toni Hafner depict the Trinity and a pomegranate. The interior holds a 1687 Immaculata by Hans Adam Weissenkircher and a late Gothic Vesperbild from about 1510–20. The side chapels contain Hafner’s Stations of the Cross. A 1688 Madonna and an image of Saint Donatus are kept in the sacristy. The church also serves the Romanian Greek Catholic parish of Graz.