New Cathedral, Linz

About

The New Cathedral of Linz, in German the Neuer Dom or Mariendom, is the principal Catholic church of the Upper Austrian capital and the largest church building in Austria. It was conceived by Bishop Franz-Josef Rudigier, whose plans began in 1855 and whose foundation stone was laid on 1 May 1862, an event marked by the performance of Anton Bruckner's cantata Preiset den Herrn.

Designed by Vincenz Statz, master builder of the Archdiocese of Cologne, the cathedral was raised in the French High Gothic style and consecrated in 1924 as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Its interior measures 130 metres in length and covers more than 5,170 square metres, with room for 20,000 worshippers. The planned spire would have stood taller, but Austro-Hungarian law forbade any building from exceeding the South Tower of Saint Stephen's in Vienna, so the final spire rises to 134.6 metres, two short of Vienna's.

The cathedral is celebrated for its stained glass, particularly the Linz Window, which tells the history of the city in coloured light, alongside windows carrying portraits of benefactors. Windows of the southern aisle damaged in the Second World War were replaced with modern designs.

Within stand the Rudigierorgel, the great organ built by Marcussen and Son in 1968, and a tower carrying seven swinging bells cast by Anton Gugg in 1901. The largest, the bourdon Immaculata, weighs eight tonnes.

History

Bishop Franz-Josef Rudigier began planning the cathedral in 1855, and construction proceeded through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries before its consecration in 1924. The Rudigierorgel, named in his memory, was installed in 1968 by Marcussen and Son. In October 2006 the Catholic Church added a plaque to the existing commemorative woodcut for Engelbert Dollfuss, by resolution of the Austrian Conference of Catholic Bishops, distancing the church from the original tribute and affirming its abstention from party politics.