Auferstehungskirche Graz

The Altkatholische Auferstehungskirche stands in a former monastery building in Graz’s fifth district, Gries. Originally a 17th-century orphanage with a small church, the site later became a military barracks before being converted into a school. In 1901 a large vaulted room on the ground floor was adapted for alt‑Catholic services, and further redesigns followed in the 1960s and again in 2010. The building now serves as the parish church for the Altkatholische Kirchengemeinde Graz, covering Styria and southern Burgenland. The church is worth visiting for its unusual history and its place in the Utrechter Union of Old Catholic Churches, formed in 1889. Alt‑Catholic worship began in Graz just before the 20th century, and the congregation has maintained its own cemetery section since 1932. The interior holds a notable Christmas crib arranged as a winged altarpiece, a feature rarely found in other churches. Inside, the vaulted hall is simple and light, with the winged altarpiece as its focal point. The adjoining alt‑Catholic cemetery lies within the larger Zentralfriedhof and is the only such dedicated section in Europe. The surrounding streets in Gries are quiet, giving little hint of the building’s layered past.