Kreuzkirche, Graz

The Kreuzkirche stands in Graz’s Lend district, a 20th-century Lutheran parish church built between 1912 and 1914. Its design came from a competition won by Berlin professor Otto Kuhlmann, beating entries from Siegfried Theiss, Hans Jaksch and Otto Bartning. The church replaced an earlier 17th-century building, the Mühl-Schlössl, which became the parish house after purchase in 1908. A legacy from Ida Albrecht, discovered only in 2014, funded the project. The building combines a long nave with sturdy stone columns and an apse painted with a blue starry sky. A tall tower originally topped with a bulbous dome was damaged in the Second World War and later restored in a simpler form.

Inside, the church surprises visitors with rich decoration unusual for a Protestant building. Angels and painted scenes adorn the balcony fronts, while the altar holds Alfred Schrötter von Kristelli’s copy of Rubens’s Crucifixion. A stone relief bust of the unknown benefactor, carved by Hans Brandstetter in 1915, sits in the tower room. The stairway to the organ loft features a Baroque altarpiece rescued from the old Mühl-Schlössl chapel. A covered walkway links the church to the parish house, completing the ensemble.

The surroundings include the Volksgarten park and the right branch of the Mühlgang stream. The building’s exterior shows plain stonework with buttresses and an open porch. Inside, the light falls on the painted apse and the warm tones of the wooden furnishings. The space feels calm yet grand, a quiet place for worship and reflection.