| | Virtual Vienna Net - Duncan Smith - The Kaiser, the Tailor and the Church of Deliverance |
 | | So it was that Heinrich Ferstel, then only 26 years of age, came to design what became known as the Votive Church (Votivkirche), the word "votive" meaning an offering given in thanks for deliverance from some hardship or other unfortunate predicament. |
| | The soldiers based at the Rossauer barracks, many of whom were in the legendary Deutschmeister Regiment, used the Votivkirche as their own church, it having been designated a garrison church by Imperial Decree in 1862 whilst still being constructed. |
| | This accounts for why the church never developed any civilian parish of its own (it remained a garrison church until 1918), why it remains devoid of the usual glittering ecclesiastical treasures found in Vienna's myriad other churches and why the much-photographed, twin-spired church receives relatively few visitors. |
| www.virtualvienna.net /columns/duncan/votivekirche.html (1371 words) |
