Breitenseer Pfarrkirche

The Roman Catholic parish church of Breitensee stands in Penzing, the fourteenth district of Vienna, at Laurentiusplatz in the Breitensee quarter. Dedicated to Saint Laurentius, it was built to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph I’s reign and placed under Denkmalschutz. The church belongs to the city deanery of the Archdiocese of Vienna. The building was designed by local master builder Ludwig Zatzka and completed between 1896 and 1898 in the neo-Gothic style. Emperor Franz Joseph attended the consecration on 8 October 1898. The brick structure follows the tradition of Friedrich von Schmidt, Zatzka’s teacher. Inside, a mosaic of Saint Laurentius fills the tympanum above the main portal. The organ loft above the entrance carries a self-portrait bust of Zatzka in the manner of late medieval builders. Life-size statues of Saints Anthony of Padua and Judas Thaddaeus flank the loft. The richly carved high altar holds figures of Saints Peter and Paul. Its central painting by Hans Zatzka shows the Virgin and Child with Saints Laurentius and Francis of Assisi and angels. A golden medallion bearing the Emperor’s portrait appears between two kneeling angels. The transept paintings depict the Temptation of Christ and the Ascension of Saint Laurentius. The apse statues were carved by J. B. Mauroner, while the zinc-cast Stations of the Cross were modelled by Rochus Haas. The large stained-glass windows form a cycle of Habsburg piety, illustrating scenes from the legend of the True Cross and episodes of imperial devotion.