Saturday, August 14, 2010

14. August-- Kirche am Steinhof






Today was Saturday, the second weekend and marking roughly the halfway point of the trip. Tired from yesterday, I decided I would take it easy today and go look around the Kunsthistorisches Museum again, because the first time I had forgotten my camera. On the subway, coincidentally, I ran into Kathy and her gang (her partner Louise and her longtime friend Hans-Joerg). They invited me to come with them to another church, which I accepted.

We went to Steinhof, a psychiatric hospital with a long history. Otto Wagner, who is known for his contributions to the Jugendstil architectural movement, designed many of the buildings in this complex around the late 19th and early 20th century. His architectural style reflects the saying ‘form should fit function.’






Our first stop was a museum dedicated to the mistreatment and murder of those deemed “unusable”

by the 3rd Reich—mentally handicapped individuals who were sent to camps or killed in Steinhof itself. This museum showed how the line between racism and science was blurred, with disastrous results. We saw propaganda against the mentally ill,

and the bogus scientific charts used to determine if a person was worthy of marriage or reproduction.

In the Steinhof complex, we went next to the Kirche am Steinhof. This church is built in a very modern style and constructed in a way to keep control of mentally disturbed patients who would cause trouble in the church. It is very open, leaving little to no space that is not immediately visible. This is useful when patients go to the church so the guards can keep an eye on them. Also, the walls, which lack the ornate designs found in other churches in Vienna, are purposely made easy to clean up to a certain height. The floor gradually slants upwards to draw attention to the altar, something that is unique to this church alone. The back of the church is around 25 centimeters lower than the front of the church. A short wall separates the altar from the rows of pews, something that would not be found in other churches, and there are no columns or anywhere someone could possibly hide. There are even open confession boxes, once again so the guards can keep an eye on the patients.

This church was built with only stones, glass, and gold. There are no paintings, but rather intricate mosaics and stained glass images around the church. The mosaic at the front of the church shows Jesus and many saints around him. Those on Jesus’s right are all patron saints of the mentally ill. Emperor Franz Joseph, who had commissioned the church, refused to visit it, and instead sent Franz Ferdinand to see what it was like. He hated the modern architectural style and asked Wagner why he hadn’t built it in the old baroque style of churches To this Wagner replied that people don’t use outdated weapons for war, they change them over the years, and the same thing goes for churches.

After the tour, we tried to find a Heuriger for dinner, with no luck, so we settled on a Biergarten instead. I had Schweinsbraten and was a little adventurous in trying the Zipferl Rot Bier. I’m still not sure what that was, but it was good. On the way back, we were asked to show our tickets on the Strassenbahn. That is exciting, because it never happens.

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