Jesuitenkirche Audio Guide for Vienna

Inside this guide

1. 01

   Welcome to the Jesuit Church of Vienna

   In Jesuitenkirche (St. Ignatius), this section highlights Welcome to the Jesuit Church of Vienna as a point to understand and notice during the visit.

   Welcome to the Jesuit Church in Vienna, the Jesuitenkirche, hidden in the old university quarter of the first district. You are standing in front of a two-floor church with twin towers, and the first thing worth knowing is that it answers to more than one name. It is the Jesuit Church, and for centuries it has also been called the University Church, because it grew out of the close partnership between the Jesuit order and the University of Vienna. It is dedicated to two men: Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, and Saint Francis Xavier, his companion and one of the very first Jesuits. A quick word about how I will tell this story. The broad outlines of the church's history are well documented, from its construction in the sixteen twenties to its dramatic Baroque transformation at the beginning of the eighteenth century. But a few finer points, such as the exact date of its consecration and some details of its decoration, are reported differently by different accounts. Where that happens, I will say so rather than choose a convenient version. So come in with me, and let's look closely at what the evidence actually supports.

2. 02

   Faith, Power and the University

   In Jesuitenkirche (St. Ignatius), this section highlights Faith, Power and the University as a point to understand and notice during the visit.

   To understand this church, you have to start with an unusual alliance. In 1623, the Jesuits merged their own college with the philosophy and theology faculty of the University of Vienna. That merged institution needed a church, and the church you see was built between 1623 and 1627 on the site of an earlier chapel. The emperor himself broke ground for both the college and the church. The dedication was to Saints Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, the founders and first companions of the Jesuit order, and one account reports that the building was consecrated in 1631. Francis Xavier, by the way, was not a distant figurehead. He was a companion of Ignatius and one of the first companions who took vows in Paris in 1534, and he became one of the most famous missionaries of the early modern world. So a church named for both men was a statement of identity, not just decoration. Notice what this building really represents: an interlocking of faith, education and Habsburg power in seventeenth century Vienna. The Jesuits arrived as teachers as much as priests, and their fate in Austria rose and fell over the centuries. Yet the architecture survived, and the church still stands as a working reminder of that alliance.

3. 03

   Andrea Pozzo and the Painted Sky

   In Jesuitenkirche (St. Ignatius), this section highlights Andrea Pozzo and the Painted Sky as a point to understand and notice during the visit.

   Now for the moment that made this church famous. Between 1703 and 1705, the church was remodeled by Andrea Pozzo, one of the great illusionists of the Baroque. What Pozzo did was less a renovation than a piece of stagecraft in stone, plaster and paint. His work here is most celebrated for an illusionistic ceiling fresco, where a painted dome creates the impression of soaring space above a ceiling that is not actually domed. Stand in the nave, look up, and your eye is persuaded that the roof opens into a bright, receding heaven. This is the Baroque idea of a total work of art, a Gesamtkunstwerk, where architecture, painting and sculpture all pull in the same direction instead of competing for attention. The interior is dominated by warm tones, ochre, gold and flesh colors, chosen to evoke resurrection, triumph and salvation. Side chapels line the nave, and the high altar is adorned with dramatic sculpture and gold leaf. Every element is meant to lift the spirit and to communicate Jesuit spirituality rather than simply to impress. So when you look up, remember you are looking at a technique, not a miracle. And it still works, three centuries later, on visitors who know exactly how the trick is done.

4. 04

   Reading the Church Inside and Out

   In Jesuitenkirche (St. Ignatius), this section highlights Reading the Church Inside and Out as a point to understand and notice during the visit.

   Before you go in, turn around and look at the outside. The facade is described as relatively modest compared with what waits within, and it carries figures on two levels. Higher up are statues of Saints Catherine, Joseph, Leopold and Barbara, generally dated to the late seventeenth century, and below them are figures of Saints Ignatius and Francis Xavier, generally dated to the early eighteenth century. That contrast is deliberate. A restrained exterior draws you inside, where the full Baroque splendor is waiting. The twin towers, which can look unusual at first glance, resolve into a harmonious whole. Inside, take your time along the side chapels on both sides of the nave, several of which are associated with the university faculties and with donations from Viennese families. Music has a strong tradition here too: the church has been described as a cultural hub supported by choirs and musical ensembles, with concert programs including Sundays. For your visit, the church's official website lists free access and an accessible entrance during its opening hours. Check that site or the notice at the door for the current schedule, and plan sightseeing around worship and special events.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   In Jesuitenkirche (St. Ignatius), this section highlights Before You Head Off as a point to understand and notice during the visit.

   You have heard about an emperor breaking ground, about Jesuits and a university sharing one roof, and about an artist who painted a sky where there was only a ceiling. But the church itself still has plenty you can explore on your own terms. Find one of the side chapels and ask yourself what its decoration was meant to say: these were often tied to university faculties or to the families who paid for them, which makes each one a small lesson in who mattered in this city. Then simply sit still for a few minutes. Look up at Pozzo's painted dome and let your eyes be fooled, and notice how the warm golds and ochres change as daylight moves through the windows. If you happen to hear music rehearsing, you are hearing a tradition that has never really left this building. One last thought to carry with you. This is a place where faith, education and power were braided together for four hundred years, and where the arguments about who should teach whom are still being settled quietly in stone and paint. Keep looking. The details are the reward.