The St. Charles's Church is situated in karlsplatz, in fourth district of Vienna and about 5 minutes walk from the Ringstraße (Ring Boulevard). It is also next to the main building of the Vienna university of technology.
Karlskirche is one of the most prominent baroque style churches in Vienna and is famous for the dome (72-meters height) which is in a shape of an elongated ellipsoid, and two columns with spiral reliefs. The church is cared for by a religious order and has long been the parish church as well as the seat of the Catholic student ministry of the Vienna University of Technology.
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| Photo by Amin.Mana |
In 1713, one year after the last great plague epidemic, Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, pledged to build a church for his namesake patron saint Karl Borromäus, who was revered as a healer for plague sufferers. An architectural competition was announced, in which Johan Bernhard Fischer prevailed over, among others. Construction began in 1716. After J. B. Fischer's death in 1723, his son, Joseph Emanuel Fischer completed the construction in 1739. The church was until 1918 the imperial patron parish church.
The iconographical program of the church originated from the imperial official Carl Gustav Heraeus and connects St. Charles Borromeo with his imperial benefactor. The relief on the pediment above the entrance with the cardinal virtues and the figure of the patron on its apex point to the motivation of the donation.
The columns display scenes from the life of Karl Borromäus in a spiral relief and are intended to recall the two columns, Boaz and Jachin, that stood in front of the Solomon's Temple, at Jerusalem. They also recall the Pillars of Hercules_ the two promontories on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar, the Rock of Gibraltar in Europe and the Jebel Musa in Africa_and act as symbols of imperial power. The entrance is flanked by angels from the Old and New Testaments .
The dome fresco by Johann Michael Rottmayr of Salzburg and Gaetano Fanti, displays an intercession of Charles Borromeo, supported by the Virgin Mary. The high altarpiece portraying the ascension of the saint was conceptualized by the elder Fischer and executed by Ferdinand Maxmilian Brokoff.
Strong effects emanate from the directing of light and architectural grouping in the arch openings of the main axis. The color scheme is characterized by marble with sparring and conscious use of gold leaf. The large round glass window high above the main altar with the Hebrew Tetragrammaton/Yahweh symbolizes God's omnipotence and simultaneously, through its warm yellow tone, God's love. Below is a representation of Apotheosis of Saint Charles Borromeo.
