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The begin of the Old Catholic Church in the Habsburg Monarchy

The disagreement with the First Vatican Council and its dogmas was also quite strong in the Habsburg Monarchy but the political and church situation was quite different to Germany.

In the Habsburg Monarchy the Catholic Church was until a few years ago the State Religion, where members of Protestant Confessions and in lesser degree Jews had limited religious and political rights. Only a few years before the State Basic Laws from 1867 (Article 14 StGG) gave each citizen the same political rights regardless of their religion. Additionally, the state accepted religions got the same rights, with norms for state acceptance (Article 15 StGG).

Another significant difference was the state structure. Germany was after the establishment of the German Empire a German state, but the Habsburg Monarchy was a multiethnic state. This became a key factor in Bohemia were German and Czech people lived with some ethnic frictions together.

Interestingly the Austrian Hungarian State also reacted negative to the new dogmas and ended on July 19.1870 the 1855 established Concordat with the Holy See due to a change of the contract partner as the pope was now infallible.

One of the most prominent critics of the new dogmas, the Archbishop of Vienna Othmar Cardinal von Rauscher who left the Vatican before the final vote subjugated to the new dogma and stopped all criticism on it. He let the degrees of the First Vatican Counsel be published in the diocesan newspaper “Wiener Diözesanblatt” without comment. It was not before a Lenten Pastoral Letter in 1871 that he declared that the acceptance of the new dogma was each Catholics duty.

The Prince-Bishop of Seckau gave three sermons in which he explained the new dogma to the faithful.

The only prominent academic critic in Austria-Hungaria of the infallible dogma was the University professor Dr. Friedrich von Schulte, who played a significant role in the creation of the Old Catholic Church.

Several towns became important centres of the Old Catholic Church in the Habsburg Monarchy: In this blog I will show the unique way of two such centres; Vienna in today Austria and Warnsdorf in Bohemia.

These two centres had partly unique ways to the Old Catholic Church. Therefor I show a brief history of each of these centres before they united in the Old Catholic Church.

The Linzer secular priest Alois Anton went in March 1871 to Vienna after a Viennese priest was suspended for his solidarity to Ignaz von Döllinger. In Vienna Anton became an important voice against the new dogmas

On July 27. 1871 a group of laypeople and clerics formed the Action Committee (Aktions-Komitee) to build an independent church community with Alois Anton as priest and the city councillor and writer Dr. Carl Linder as chairperson. From all Austrian provinces dogma critical delegates were sent to this meeting. So unsurprising the Action Committee became the leader in the Austrian Old Catholic Movement. Anton presented a program with eleven points and the meeting decided that Anton should be its delegate to the organising meeting in Heidelberg for the Catholic Congress (Katholikenkongress) 1871 in Munich. Before the meeting in Heidelberg Anton publish the eleven-point program as followed:

1. As in early Christianity, the parish priest should be elected by the congregation.

2. Clergy should receive fixed salaries so that they can live decently.

3. Compulsory celibacy should be abolished, and clergy should have the right to marry.

4. The cathedral chapter should be dissolved.

5. Masses should henceforth be celebrated in the national language, and lectures in seminaries should also be held in the national language.

6. Religious services should be performed free of charge.

7. The poor and the rich should be treated equally regarding church services.

8. Ear confession should be abolished.

9. Pilgrimages and processions should be abolished.

10. The cult of images should be discontinued.

11. The state should prosecute the relic fraud.

These points were accepted as discussion points at the organisation meeting in Heidelberg.

In August 1871 Alois Anton informed the public about the meeting in Heidelberg and announced more speeches from Professor Michelis a prominent critic of the First Vatican Council.

In the same month Anton announced that he got the Holy Oils from the Old Catholic priest Renftle from Mering in Germany. Therefore, he would start to administer the church rites to his fellow believers. This was the start of independent church service in Vienna.

The next step was the organising of the Old Catholic Committee (Altkatholikenkomitee) with Alois Anton and the before mentioned Dr. Carl Lindner as key members. The Committee addressed all those who rejected the Pope´s infallibility and planned to organise an united process against the pope´s infallibility. The Committee asked the public to write their questions to the committee’s teleological expert, Alois Anton, who would answer them. This call to the public was a remarkable success with more than one thousand people from all social classes, but mostly craftsmen and worker, answering often with wishes what should be different to the Catholic Church. Most of these answers included the declaration to join the planed independent cultus community. Anton´s previously published program which matched a lot of the wishes written to Anton became the basic plan for this new community. The Old Catholic Committee also encouraged other Austrian dissenters outside of Vienna to build Action Committees with the intend to build independent church communities.

The First Old Catholics Congress took place in Munich between September 22 to 24 1871. Austria sent thirteen delegates including the priests Alois Anton and Anton Nittel from Warnsdorf. The decision to establish Old Catholic Church communities were these were needed was especial important for Austria in order to create Old Catholic Communities. Anton gave the functions to his co-believers since August 1871, but no Old Catholic church service was held yet. Anton got the agreement from the Protestant parish in Wien-Gumpendorf, who owned the biggest Protestant church building in Vienna, to celebrate their first Mass there. But Anton decided against the plan as he feared backlash when seen to closely working with Protestants. Instead, Anton asked the city council for a church to use and was given the town owned St. Salvator Chapel for Old Catholic church services from the  Old Catholic friendly city council which included the prominent dissenter Dr. Lindner.

The first Old Catholic church service in Austria took place on Sunday Oktober 15. 1871 at the St. Salvator Chapel in Vienna. The protest from the Catholic Archdiocese when this plan became public was strong. First a sharp protest letter was sent to the city council, which did not change its decision. As Anton was a secular priest from Linz and not part of the Vienna Archdiocese the Ordinariate of the Archdiocese had no means to prevent him from celebrating the Old Catholic Mass. Therefore, the Ordinariate ordered that if the chapel was handed over the church rector should consume the Blessed Sacrament or take it to another church. In addition, the Ordinariate announced it would declare an interdict (meaning that no Roman Catholic may participate in a religious service there or even enter the chapel) on the chapel if it was given to the new community. Nevertheless, further debate in the town council on October 11. 1871, led to the anew decision to make St. Salvator Chapel available to the Old Catholics. After the meeting, Alois Anton and the chairmen of the action committee personally thank the mayor. This was also the first time the Council of Ministers dealt with the Old Catholics. The Minister of Culture considered this to be an internal matter for the Catholic Church in which the state should not interfere. Most of the other ministers, who were either distant or even hostile toward the Old Catholics, decided to follow the opinion of the Minister of Finance and his opinion that they could not decide in this dispute due to the Basic Law from 1867 (Article 15 StGG).

In the morning of Sunday September 15. 1871 there was first at 9 o’clock a quite Mass celebrated from the church rector and then at 10 a.m. sharp a sung Mass with organ accompaniment. After the consecration and stopping of the organ the priest took the monstrance which normally was in the tabernacle but was at this occasion displayed during the Mass and blesses the believers with it. Afterwards he consumed the host. Before the closing words all candles and the eternal flame were extinguished and the tabernacle doors opened. After the closing words the Roman Catholic priest left the chapel room and divested in the sacristy and then gave the liturgical clothes and vessels to the municipal director who handed them over to Alois Anton.

In the meantime, the Old Catholics prepared the quick filling chapel for Mass. Shortly before 11 a.m. Anton entered the chapel and spoke a quite prayer before he stepped up to the pulpit and read a passage from the Gospel of Luke and gave then a short sermon to the audience including the Action Committee and several council members. After his sermon, which was often interrupted by applause, he thanked the Vienna City Council for the chapel usage and announced that from now on he would celebrate Mass every Sunday at 10 a.m. After leaving the pulpit he re-lighted the eternal flame and returned to the sacristy where he changed into the liturgical vestments. Then he returned to the chapel room to celebrate the Mass in Latin accompanied from the Landstraße Men's Choir who sang Franz Schubert's German Mass.

The Catholic Church reacted swiftly, during Sunday Mass many priests condemned the service at St. Salvator and Cardinal Rauscher, who originally was a prominent critic of the new dogmas, imposed the interdict, which was not lifted until 1969 by Dr. Franz Cardinal König.

The next step for the Old Catholic community was the establishment of a parish community. On November 5. 1871 about four hundred people met in an inn in Vienna’s first district under the lead of Moritz Duftschmid. This group saw itself as a new free from Rome independent church community. As a Church Community needed money and organisation Alois Anton was asked to write a parish statute. He wrote the statute in three chapters and forty-three paragraphs using the Protestant Church Statute as strong template which he only changed in Old Catholic specifical issues. Especially important were the strong status and participation rights of laypeople in the parish organisation which gave the priest only the spiritual leadership. An elected layperson was the chairperson of the cultus leadership. Concerning the money part the contributions system and distribution of member cards were discussed.

The planed constitution was prohibited from the k.k. Niederösterreichischen Statthalterei on January 5. 1872, declaring that the Basic Law from 1867 was not applicable for the planed community. Despite this prohibition a meeting for the constitution was organised and on February 4.1872 about three thousand people met at the Josefstädter Theatre for the constitution, but the police forbade the meeting and closed the theatre. Therefore, a private meeting at a hotel on February 11. 1872 was organised where about two hundred people met and after a speech from council member Dr. Lindner the Old Catholic parish in Vienna was established and the community constitution unanimously approved. Alois Anton was elected pastor and Dr. Kürzinger was elected as chaplain. With this day Vienna had an Old Catholic parish but as far as the state was concerned it did not exist, despite Anton acting as pastor.

Quite a different way was used by the dissenters in Warnsdorf in Bohemia. At a meeting on June 18.1871 the businessman Julius Richter and the future city major Karl Goldberg spoke to interested citizen about the First Vatican Council and its results. Especially the new dogmas were widely criticised as Uncatholic. On July 7. 1871 the secular priest and religion teacher Anton Nittel criticized in the “Warnsdorfer Generalanzeiger” the new dogmas as heresy that he could never teach his students. This article got the agreement from thirty well established citizen of Warnsdorf resulting in a meeting in solidarity to Anton Nittel on August 10.1871. This meeting was followed by the establishment of a newspaper for the dissenters. The first printer in Warnsdorf and bookseller Friedrich Pohl sold his print shop to the new press board. Pohl functioned as publisher and Anton Nittel as editor. The first edition of the new paper named Defence (Abwehr) was published on August 16. 1871 and Nittel made clear the new paper was against the pope´s infallibility, the Jesuits and for the Catholic Church before the First Vatican Council. This was the first newspaper against the New Catholic Church as the dissenters called the Catholic Church after the first Vatican Council in the Austrian Hungarian Monarchy. Bishop Wahala from Leitmaritz to who´s diocese Warnsdorf belonged ordered Nittel to recant his protest and as Nittel denied Bishop Wahala declared Anton Nittel as excommunicated. Therefore, Nittel was not only removed from his pastoral position but also from his teaching position. Nittel accepted the removal and refrained from performing his church duties but made clear that he would perform his priestly duties if asked form the Dissenter Community. In Warnsdorf the local school board and the mayor protested Anton Nittels dismal as religion teacher. On the same day, the city council of Warnsdorf agreed two proposals Mayor Goldberg´s to fight against the invasions in the local school affairs. Furthermore, a Political Catholic Association (“political” was understood differently than today and had nothing to do with a political party.) was established due to the Association Act in Austria-Hungary.

On September 19.1871, the provisional Political Catholic Association in Warnsdorf was established with a chairperson and two deputies. On the same day Anton Nittel who was a board member published in their newspaper the invitation to join the new community.

On September 23. 1871 the official approval of the Political Catholic Association in Warnsdorf was given and the Church Community in Warnsdorf existed until 1877 as an official Political Association which was the official origin of the later official Old Catholic Church Community in Austria.

The cultus community was established on Oktober 16.1871. After the Foundation celebration of the Warnsdorf local fire department with only a prayer through Anton Nittel instead of the former usual Catholic Mass 456 men elected a 30-member strong church council which elected Anton Nittel as pastor. The new community regulations adopted at the meeting emphasize adherence to the old Catholic faith and grant community members full participation in the administration of the community. The community was erected but was not recognised as such by the state.

Despite the Old Catholic Community in Warnsdorf the school children were still taught the Catholic faith as the state did not recognise the Old Catholic Church Community. So, on January 21.1872 a petition to the district school board was started to clear if Old Catholic pupils had to attend the Catholic religion teaching. In this was involved the question if the government saw a difference between the Catholic and the Old Catholic faith and if it recognises the Old Catholics as it own religious community. In reaction to this petition members of parliament sent a proposal concerning the situation of the Old Catholics to parliament hoping for laws to clear the position. But despite the proposal’s acceptation the state denied clearing the Old Catholic situation as the Old Catholics were no independent Religious Community according to the Basic State Law. Therefore, the Old Catholic pupils had to attend the Catholic religion teaching.

After the First Old Catholic Congress in Munich in September 1871, where Anton Nittel was one of the Austrian delegates, he informed the citizen of Warnsdorf during the first public meeting of the Political Catholic Association in Warnsdorf on October 8.1871 about the Munich results. At this very well attended meeting the Association also discussed the organisation of church services and the establishment of Old Catholic religious teaching.

After preparation meetings the community in Warnsdorf established its own Cultus Community on March 16.1872. Despite the non-acceptance through the state 456 men voted for thirty men to become the executive board. This board voted for Anton Nittel as pastor. At the same meeting, a community order was established, in which the parish members got full participation in the parish administration, and it was declared that the parish members still belonged to the Catholic Church as it was before the First Vatican Council.

Vienna and Warnsdorf were not the only places where dissenters of the First Vatican Counsel established Communities. 1873 existed already 18 Old Catholic Communities mostly in North Bohemia but all without state recognition. In today Austria Ried im Innkreis was another Old Catholic centre. To the religious reasons for the success in the Bohemian region added the fact that the Germans in North Bohemia were a minority and a German oriented church was appealing to many Germans in North Bohemia. Anton Nittel himself was a supporter of the German Cause in Bohemia and added this aspect very strongly to his teaching after 1898.

As all these Old Catholic communities existed without state recognising the next step was to get the acceptance from the state due to the Basic State Law from 1867 (Article 15 StGG). The government saw the Old Catholics as a part of the Catholic Church and therefore an intern conflict and the Basic State Law not applicable. There were two main points which were unacceptable for the Old Catholics to get the acceptance as a new Religious Community. They had to declare themselves as members of a new religion and so leave the Catholic Church and with this loose all rights to the Roman Catholic Church properties and founds. The Old Catholics saw themselves as the true Catholics who remained as the Catholic Church was until the First Vatican Council and not they, but the Rom loyal Catholics where those who changed and build a new church hence calling them the New Catholics. The Catholic Church was until a few years ago the State Religion and owned a lot of property in the Austrian Hungarian Monarchy giving this up meant to start financially at zero. Therefore, the Old Catholics tried to find compromises with the government but in the end the Old Catholics had to accept the Governments conditions and declared their leaving of the Catholic Church and with it the loss of any part of the Catholic Church’s property. After this the State recognised the Old Catholic Church and accepted her on October 18. 1877 based on the Basic State Law of 1867 (Article 15 StGG).

On June 5. 1877 the First Ordinary Synod of the Old Catholic Church was held in Vienna during which the following points were decided:

1. Participation of lay people in church government based on the restoration of the old church constitution

2. Abolition of compulsory ear confession

3. Abolition of compulsory celibacy in line with the formulation of the Old Catholic Synod in Germany

4. Reform of worship, introduction of the mother tongue in all church functions, especially in the celebration of Mass

5. Abolition of compulsory fasting

6. Revision of the church calendar regarding the transfer or reduction of holidays within the church framework

7. Abolition of abuses concerning indulgences, the cult of relics and images and restriction of worship to the premises of the church

8. Abolition of Mass stipends, prayer money, and seat fees

At this synod, the ”Synodal and Parish Regulations" which were sent to the state prior to the Church recognition and which accepting through the state was mandatory in the State´s recognising of the Old Catholic Church were formally accepted through the Synod.

Following this first Synod the Second Synod in June 1880 had as one point the preparation for the first bishop election, but it soon showed that the government did not allow a bishop as they received no funds from the State Religious Fund and therefore their financial situation did not allow the installation of a bishop only a diocesan administrator. Therefore, only a diocesan administrator could be elected at the Third Synod 1881. The synod voted for Anton Nittel but again there were problems with the state. Anton Nittel was a controversial political person in Bohemia especially with his German pushing works, so his election was not accepted from the government.

In the following years Nittel acted as the Diocesan Administrator and even the seat of the diocesan administrator was moved to his parish seat in Warnsdorf, Bohemia, but he himself was not acknowledged as such from the state authorities. This situation continued until 1888 when with Milos Czech a new Diocesan Administrator was elected but Warnsdorf remained his seat. The census of 1888 registered 6134 persons as members of the Old Catholic Church in Austria-Hungaria.

On September 24. 1889 the Bishops of the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands and Germany together with the Swiss Christ Catholic Church gave the Utrecht Declaration with fundamental statements of belief which was also accepted from the Austrian Diocesan Administrator.

In the following years, the Old Catholic Church could increase his members, but it became also involved in the “Away from Rome” movement and its Germany leaning politics. The census 1910 recorded 24190 Old Catholics.

The end of the First World War 1918 and the dissolving of the Austrian Hungarian Monarchy was a great problem for the Old Catholic Church. It became especially difficult for its members in the new Austrian Republic as their Diocesan Administration was now in a foreign state with difficult relations between Austria and the Czechoslovakian Republic.

To address this problem a Part Synod meet on May 5. 1919 and decided to establish its own Austrian Diocese. On June 29. 1920 the First Austrian Synod met and elected a Synodal Board. This Synodal Board elected on July 6. 1920 Adalbert Schindelar as Diocesan Administrator. A few weeks later, on September 25.1920 the Archbishop of Utrecht accepted the Austrian Old Catholic Diocese as member of the Utrechter Union of Old Catholic Churches.

The Austrian State accepted the Old Catholic cultus communities in Austria as an independent Church on March 26.1921.

The Secound Synod on September 6.1924 elected Adalbert Schindelar as First Bishop of the Old Catholic Church in Austria, he was ordained on September 1. 1924 in the Christ Catholic Church in Bern.

Sources and for more information:

Altkatholiken: Homepage Altkatholiken : https://altkatholiken.at/

Altkatholiken Grundsätze: https://altkatholiken.at/unsere-grundsaetze/

LEXIKON DER ALTKATHOLISCHEN KIRCHE: https://altkatholische-kirche.at/

Michaela Anna Trummer:  Die Entstehung der altkatholischen Kirche mit besonderem Blick auf die Entstehung der ersten Gemeinden in Österreich.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://unipub.uni-graz.at/obvugrhs/download/pdf/242446

Christian Halama: Bemerkungen zur Identität der Altkatholischen Kirchen Österreichs.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://unipub.uni-graz.at/download/pdf/492781.pdf

Kirche in Bewegung: Erträumt und Erreicht Zeittafel 12.6.2019 page 3 ff.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://altkatholiken.at/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2019-02-KiB.pdf

Staatsgrundgesetz vom 21. Dezember 1867

https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=rgb&datum=18670004&seite=00000394 and

https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=rgb&datum=1867&page=423&size=45

Articles 12 and 14

https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=rgb&datum=1867&page=424&size=45

Article 15 ,16 and 17

Verordnung des Ministers für Cultus und Unterreicht vom 18. Jänner 1869 RgBl.Nr. 13/1869 (Change of Religion)

https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=rgb&datum=1869&page=115&size=45

and

https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=rgb&datum=1869&page=116&size=45

Verordnung des Ministers für Cultus und Unterreicht vom 18. Oktober 1877 RgBl.Nr. 99/1877 (Acceptance of the Old Catholic Church as a religious community)

https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=rgb&datum=18770004&seite=00000210

Gesetz vom 15. November 1867 über das Vereinsrecht RgGl 134/1967

https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=rgb&datum=18670004&seite=00000377

https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=rgb&datum=1867&page=406&size=45

Political Assoziation

https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=rgb&datum=1867&page=408&size=45

Salvatorkirche: https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Salvatorkirche

Alt-Katholische Kirchen der Utrechter Union: https://www.utrechter-union.org/

All links were active on September 1. 2025

Photos Inside Old Catholic Church St. Sebastian in Vienna by me

The Old Catholic Church which did not want to be a Church.

The name Old Catholic Church or Altkatholisch in German hints to an old established church but this is partly wrong. The Old Catholic Church was created after the First Vatican Council in reaction to the dogma of papal infallibility which was declared on July 18.1870 at the Vatican. Why do the members of the Old Catholic Church name themselves, with exception of the Swiss members who name themselves Christ Katholische Kirche, Old Catholic Church? Because they see themselves as follower of the Catholic Church as it was before the dogmas of papal infallibility and papal primacy. Additionally, there was no plan for a new church, it was the reaction of the Catholic Church against the opposition especially the church ban which created this need. The ban excluded dissenters from the sacraments which forced dissident leaders to create an organisation which took care of their religious welfare.

When a new church was never the plan what was so unacceptable for devoted Catholics to rather suffer the consequences of the church ban than to subjugate to the new dogma? It was the subjugation of one´s own believe and conscience under the decision of one single person, the pope.

Church dogmas were nothing new in the Catholic Church and the consequence of church ban if not followed was common but all the dogmas before followed a process of cooperation between pope and council. Formally this was the case with the First Vatican Council too, but in fact the pope and his supporters organised the structure of the council to concentrate all power in their hands and denied the strong opposition all possibilities to present counterarguments and changes to the planed dogmas.

A principal factor in the process was the pope himself. Pope Pius IX. (Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti) was elected 1846 and after his exile in Gaeta between 1848 and 1850 a strict opponent against all modern and liberal currents of his time and especially against the freedom of conscience, opinion, and the press. Not surprisingly he was also a strict proponent of papal primacy. The first manifestation of papal primacy was the only through papal power legitimated declaration of the dogma of the Virgin Mary´s Immaculate Conception in 1854.

Against the growing papal dominance arose a widespread opposition especial in the German speaking countries, mostly from academic theologians like Ignaz von Döllinger, but also from high clerics like the Archbishop of Vienna Othmar Cardinal von Rauscher and the Archbishop of Prague Friedrich Cardinal von Schwarzenberg.

Against the growing opposition of increasing papal power Pope Pius IX and his supporters planed a council to institutionalise the absolute papal primacy and the papal infallibility in dogmas through an ecumenical council at the Vatican. Knowing of the strong opposition only high clerics from bishop up and religious superiors where invited, which was unusual as previously a far range of dignitaries including theological teachers were invited to at least the right to speak. But even within the high cleric the planed dogmas were met with opposition. When the First Vatican Council began on December 8.1869 the opposition was presented with the council rules of procedure which made any organised opposition against the planed dogmas impossible, especially as these rules were changed several times to enforce the papal will.

On April 24. 1870 the Apostolic Constitution Dei Filius, which cemented the antimodern principles of Pope Pius IX, was proclaimed.

This Apostolic Constitution was already the fruit of the planed dogmas and enhanced the opposition but soon the opposing bishops recognised that they had no chance to stop the planed dogma. Except two they left Rome on July 17.1870 before the final votes to keep the unity for the outside world.

On July 18. 1870 Pastor Aeternus was decided. This dogma gave the pope the jurisdictional primacy in all decisions and the papal infallibility in deciding these decisions.

The First Vatican Council was never properly ended as the German French War started with the declaration of war through the French Emperor Napoleon III against Prussia on July 19.1870. This resulted in the withdrawal of the French protection forces and the occupation of Rome by Italian troops. Pope Pius IX lost his Papal State and became the Prisoner in the Vatican.

Despite Pope Pius IX loose of the territorial papal power the dogmas from the First Vatican Council determined his religious powers. The church bans against all who did not submit under these dogmas became the law with all consequences. Unsurprisingly all high clerics including Othmar Cardinal von Rauscher and Friedrich Cardinal von Schwarzenberg subjugated to the new dogmas.

But for countless theological teachers the submission was impossible as it went against their conscience and believes. In several publications like the “Declaration von Königswinter from August 14.1870 and the “Nürnberger Declaration” from August 26. 1870 they formulated the problems with the new dogmas in even for laypeople understandable form. The criticised that these dogmas were new law and had no basis in biblical or lived church praxis. Furthermore, due to the place and organisation of the First Vatican Council it was neither an ecumenical nor a free council as all power was concentrated in the pope´s and his curia hands, therefore not correct decided.

The dissenters wished that the Catholic Church would go formally back in its teaching before the First Vatican Council through an ecumenical council outside Italy free from papal pressure. As all First Vatican Council dissenters had submitted a new council was impossible. Soon the practical results of the church bans were felt as dissenters fell ill but did not receive the sacraments due to the excommunication. In this situation the dissenting teachers who were also Catholic priests began, despite being excommunicated themselves, to give the sacraments. It was never the plan to form a new church as they saw themselves as true members of the Catholic Church as it was before the wrongful First Vatican Council.

In the Pentecost Declaration published on May 28.1871 the banned dissenter declared that they could not accept the two new dogmas but were still Catholics. Therefore, the banned believers had still the need and right to the sacraments and the banned priest had additional the power and duty to give these sacraments.

In July 1871 Ignaz von Döllinger and Johannes Friedrich asked the state to give them a church for their church services. Munich followed this request and gave them the Gasteigkirche for their services, especially marriages.

The next step was the Catholic Congress between September 22. and 24. 1871 in Munich which was attended from three hundred delegates from German, Austria and Swiss together with guests from the Russian Orthodox, Anglican, Protestant Churches, and the Church of Utrecht. These guest together with Catholic guests from France, Spain, Brazil, Irland and United States attended the two open meetings. In the three delegates assemblies the Munich Program formulated the following seven principles.

1. The Old Catholics still believed in the Catholic believe as it was based on the Bible, traditions and cultus and so were still full righted members of the Catholic Church but reject the two new dogmas of the papal jurisdictional primacy and the papal infallibility.
2. They still accept the old church constitution and the bishop´s rights but reject the pope as only from God endowed church authority and power. The from God endowed hierarchy is bishop-priest-deacon.
3. The aim was a reform of the theological and canonical science in the spirit of the Old Church which includes God´s people in church matters. There are no dogmatic contradictions with the Church of Utrecht and an ecumenic union of the other Christian Churches is particularly important and a hope for the future.
4. The clerics need scientific schooling in addition to the seminary education.
5. The universal episcopate of the pope was rejected on the grounds of civil liberty and the constitution of the countries and their culture.
6. The Jesuits as a reason for the church problems should be abolished.
7. They were still part of the Catholic Church including its properties.

The Congress dissented about new structures for the excommunicated. Ignaz von Döllinger wanted to keep the protest within the structure of the Catholic Church despite the excommunication but the Congress President Friedrich von Schulte and other prominent members of the Old Church movement were for the building of their own communities wherever these were needed. In the end the Catholic Congress accepted with only three counter votes von Schultes proposal which all accepted.

Following the Catholic Congress in Munich the Old Catholic Congress in Cologne between September 20. to 22. 1872 established the Old Catholic Church. The 350 delegates from Germany, France and Swiss were accompanied by guests from other Christian Churches but no longer from members of the Catholic Church. It was the first time the new church declared herself as Old Catholic Church and all who accepted the dogmas of the First Vatican Council as New Catholics. This Congress set the first steps for the church constitution and pastoral care. Most importantly the sacraments given in the traditional forms were now not only valid but also permitted. Additionally, the use of the German language during service was increased, the indulgences reformed and payment for church services together with worship of saints abolished. But still the Congress tried to limit the departure from the Catholic Church. The Congress also installed commissions which should create the procedure for the bishop election, organisation of the communities, relationship between the Old Catholic Church and the state and the relationship of the Old Catholic Church and other Christian Churches in the hope of reuniting.

The Old Catholic Congress in Konstanz from September 12. to 15. 1873 decided the synodal and congregational order including the general provision that the Old Catholics reserve all the rights of members of the Catholic Church and that their own ecclesiastical order is only provisional. It determined its strong synodal order as bishops and synodal members had to be elected with the synod as the highest administrative body which the bishop only chaired. Elected laypeople were given full membership and rights at synods. Laypeople have also a significant role in the parish assemblies.

With the Declaration of Utrecht on September 24. 1889 signed by bishops of the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands, Germany, the bishop administrator of Austria and the bishops of the Christ Catholic Church in Switzerland the Utrechter Union was formed.

Due to state church laws, political and national problems the forming of the Austrian Old Catholic Church was quite difficult. Therefor I will write about the Old Catholic Church in Austria in another blog post.

Sources used:

Lexikon der altkatholischen Kirche – Home: https://altkatholische-kirche.at/

Altkatholiken: https://ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/begriffe/altkatholiken/

Altkatholische Kirche Österreichs: https://altkatholiken.at/unsere-grundsaetze/

Altkatholische Kirchengemeinde St. Salvator Teilgemeinde Baden-St. Anna Kapelle

https://baden.altkatholisch.info/index.php/kontakte?view=category&id=15

Michaela Anna Trummer:  Die Entstehung der altkatholischen Kirche mit besonderem Blick auf die Entstehung der ersten Gemeinden in Österreich  

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://unipub.uni-graz.at/obvugrhs/download/pdf/242446

Christian Halama: Bemerkungen zur Identität der Altkatholischen Kirchen in Österreich, chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://unipub.uni-graz.at/download/pdf/492781.pdf

Kirche + Leben: https://www.kirche-und-leben.de/artikel/kurz-erklaert-was-ist-die-altkatholische-kirche

Utrechter Union: https://www.utrechter-union.org/uber-uns/alt-katholischen-kirchen/einheit-katholizitat-und-apostolizitat-der-kirche/

Einheit, Katholizität und Apostolizität der Kirche – Utrechter Union: https://www.utrechter-union.org/uber-uns/alt-katholischen-kirchen/einheit-katholizitat-und-apostolizitat-der-kirche/

Pius IX.: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pius_IX.

Erste Vatikanisches Konzil: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erstes_Vatikanisches_Konzil

Erstes Vatikanisches Konzil: https://www.die-bibel.de/ressourcen/wirelex/5-inhalte-ii-kirchengeschichtsdidaktik/erstes-vatikanisches-konzil

150 Jahre Dogma der päpstlichen Unfehlbarkeit: https://de.catholicnewsagency.com/news/6914/150-jahre-dogma-der-papstlichen-unfehlbarkeit

Marriage was not always easy for people in the Cisleithanian parts of the Habsburg Monarchy

Following the defeat of the anti-Habsburg Bohemian Revolt at the Battle of the White Mountain near Prague in 1620, only two religious confessions were legally permitted in Austria, the Roman Catholic Church and Judaism, the later under very strict conditions. This changed on October 13, 1781, when Emperor Joseph II issued the first Patent of Toleration. It extended religious freedom albeit heavily regulated to the Non-Catholic Christians: Lutherans, Calvinists and Eastern Orthodox (“ACatholics”) It was followed over the course of 8 years by several Edicts of Tolerance for Jews.

The Patents were a significant improvement but still included discrimination for all those not of the Roman Catholic faith. Because administrative powers were assigned to the Roman Catholic Church all births, marriages and deaths had to be recorded in the Catholic registers notwithstanding that the actual religious ceremony was headed by the religious authorities of the people involved. Catholicism was the „accepted“ faith, and with it the validity of Catholic ecclesiastical law. To this day the Roman Catholic Church defines marriage as a holy sacrament and therefore as inseparable. Divorced Roman Catholics are not allowed to remarry in church while the partner of a Catholic marriage is alive (with strictly defined exceptions regulated by Church Law). Despite the reforms of Joseph II, the marriage law of the state remained largely congruent with Catholic Church law.

Although “mixed” marriages between Catholics and members of the recognized Christian churches were possible, marriage between Christians and Non-Christians, especially Jews, was prohibited. Marriage between Catholics and other Christians had to be solemnized by a Catholic priest. Conversion to the Roman Catholic Church was administratively rather easy, contrary to leaving the Church. To become a Protestant a convert had to undergo six weeks of Catholic religious education. Conversion from a Christian faith to Judaism was prohibited. In 1811 the Austrian Civil Code (Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch – ABGB) was enacted. Its marriage law decreed different provisions, some for all married couples, some for Catholics only, some for Non-Catholic Christians, and some for Jews only.

This was the situation until Deecember 1867, when the “Basic Law on the General Rights of Nationals in the Kingdoms and Countries represented in the Council of the Realm” (Staatsgrundgesetz über die Allgemeinen Rechte der Staatsbürger über die im Reichsrate vertretene Königreiche und Länder - StGG) was passed. It followed the creation of the Dual Monarchy Austro-Hungary, in fact two independent states with the emperor/king as head of state and some common institutions in foreign and military affairs. Derived from the name of the border river Leitha the “Austrian” part of the Dual Monarchy got to be called, informal but not legally, Cisleithania, and the “Hungarian” part, with its Subsidiary Countries, Transleithania. It is important to note that until 1921 what today is Burgenland, was Hungarian and therefore belonged to Transleithania.

This Basic Law was a major improvement as it eliminated faith-based discrimination while granting important rights to the citizens. The Roman Catholic Church was still by far the dominant faith, but ACatholics and Jews now were invested with full citizenship rights, and their religious authorities became their administrative authorities for birth, marriage, and death. Articles 14 to 16 guaranteed the freedom of religion and of conscience, the right to public exercise of worship for churches and religious societies recognised under the law, the right to private exercise of worship for members of other religious confessions, as long as its praxis was not against the law or good manners. This for example applied to members of the Anglican Church, which was not officially recognized at that time. However, this created another problem – who should register the marriage of people who did not belong to a state-recognized church?

In May 1868, the possibility of a civil marriage was introduced with the concept of the “Notzivilehe”. This “emergency civil marriage” could take place if a priest refused to marry a couple for reasons that were not acknowledged by the state as an impediment to marriage. For instance, the Roman Catholic marriage impediment in connection with kinship was far stricter than the state laws. Therefore, when a priest, pastor or rabbi explicitly denied in written form his agreement for the wedding the couple could ask the state authorities to perform the wedding. Catholic couples could only ask for a Notzivilehe when a Catholic priest refused the act on grounds of a church law, or if the couple declared that they did not want to be married in a religious ceremony. We have to remember that the Catholic Church to the present day forbids a new marriage after divorce as long as the partner is still alive. Furthermore, all who did not belong to an accepted church, like the members of the Anglican Church, had to get married at a civil authority which was either the Bezirkshauptmannschaft (District Authority) or in towns with special status like Vienna, the Magistrat. This applied also to persons with no church at all. For couples without religious belief the Notzivilehe became possible in 1870, the first one performed by Cajetan Felder, the mayor of Vienna, between a former Christian bride and a former Jewish groom who had both left their religious communities. For the first time intermarriage between Jews and Christians became possible. Moreover, if they wished and were accepted, they could re-join their religious communities. For former Roman Catholics this was often the case after the death of the in Notzivilehe married spouse or the divorce of this marriage.  However, marriage in a church was still the by far dominant way to marry. Especially so as it was now possible in Christian interconfessional marriages that the couple were married by any priest of an accepted church and not exclusively a Catholic priest.

The question where to register children born in Notzivil marriages as well as deaths was solved by establishing birth and death books along with the marriage books at the responsible civil authorities.

What remained was the question of remarriage of Roman Catholics. A couple could not be divorced, only “Separated from Board and Bed”, but they remained legally married until one partner died. Even leaving the church or conversion to another faith offered no way out of this dilemma. One possibility was change of citizenship. The German Empire, founded in 1871, consisted of 25 States with their own legislation, including marriage laws. Some Protestant States allowed divorce, some asked for proof of separation, some required citizenship and residence, some demanded conversion to Protestantism. A famous case was that of Johann Strauß the Younger, who converted and became a citizen of the Duchy of Coburg, in order to marry his third wife Adele in 1887.

Closer to home Cisleithanian citizens of Austria had the choice of the so-called Siebenbürger Hochzeit (Transsylvanian Marriage). Siebenbürgen (Transsylvania) belonged to the Hungarian part of the Monarchy. The partner in a Catholic marriage who wanted to remarry, had to convert to a Protestant Church, preferably the Unitarian or a Protestant Reformed Church, as those unlike other Protestant Churches, did not demand the agreement of the other partner to the divorce, acknowledging  “Separation from Board and Bed“. Also needed was the conversion to Hungarian citizenship, easily obtainable up to 1879 after a few weeks of residence. After 1879, Hungary changed its Civil Law and introduced certain obstacles to citizenship.  A new citizen had to complete at least 5 years of residence, have proof of assets or a job that could provide for a family at the place of residence, together with registration as a taxpayer for 5 years. In effect only quite wealthy people could afford this. Some circumvented this obligation through adoption by a Hungarian citizen. When Hungary changed its Civil Law in 1895 with the introduction of obligatory state registration of birth, marriage and death and the establishment of register offices, it also abolished the religious restrictions in family laws. This made it possible for Hungarian citizens to remarry even when Roman Catholics. Of course, the Roman Catholic Church did not recognise such marriages, and the remarried partner lived in “sin and adultery”. The situation was especially bad for the not remarried partner if he or she did not change religion and citizenship too, because they still were bound by Roman Catholic marriage law. As citizens of Cisleithania, their civil marriage status was identical with their religious status. They were not allowed to marry themselves as long as their former partner was alive.

Of course, such fake citizenships were unacceptable in the Cisleithanian part of the Monarchy, the more so when residence there was re-established. Up to 1907, the Supreme Court in last instance declared all these marriages invalid. This legal opinion began to change around 1907 as it was considered problematic for a Cisleithanian court to pass judgment on the validity of a marriage contracted by a foreigner abroad.

Overall, despite attempts to separate the religious Catholic marriage laws from state laws it remained impossible for couples married Catholic to remarry as long as one partner was alive. This ended only with the introduction of obligatory civil marriage when Austria became part of the German Reich in 1938.

Sources:

Christian Neschwara: Konfessionell gebundene Ehehindernisse im österreichischen Allgemeinen Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuch chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.austriaca.at/0xc1aa5576_0x0039014b.pdf

 Anna L. Staudacher: Proselyten und Rückkehr- Der Übertritt zum Judentum in Wien 1868-1914

Thomas Hiermann: Der lange Weg vom konfessionellen Eherecht zur Zivilehe – aufgezeigt anhand von Beispielen der Staaten Österreich und Israel

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://epub.jku.at/obvulihs/download/pdf/1915384

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek: ALEX Historische Rechts- und Gesetzestexte

https://alex.onb.ac.at/

RIS Rechtinformationsinformationssystem des Bundes:

https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Bund/

Wien Geschichte Wiki-Dezemberverfassung:

https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Dezemberverfassung

Wien Geschichte Wiki- Österreich-Ungarn:

https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/%C3%96sterreich-Ungarn

Wien Geschichte Wiki- Eheschließungen

https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Eheschlie%C3%9Fungen

Simon Institution Ehe:

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://rechtsgeschichte.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/i_rechtsgeschichte/Dateien_Simon/Simon_Institution_Ehe.pdf

Do you think Vienna was always a Roman Catholic City? – Wrong!

Shortly after Martin Luther published his 95 Thesis 1517 in Wittenberg his writing and teaching was, thanks to the new letterpress technology and its much cheaper and easier distribution, speeding through Europa.

The first of these printings reach Vienna about 1520 and fell, due to an already widespread dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church, on a very fertile religious atmosphere. On January 12.1522 Paulus Speratus, a former priest from Freiburg im Breisgau and later Lutheran Bishop in Prussia, gave a Lutheran sermon in the Viennese main church, the Stephansdom, which started a long time of Lutheran domination in Vienna.

How was this possible in a town which was later the capital of the Counter-Reformation power?

Due to the widespread dissatisfaction with the theological teaching and practises like the selling of indulgences citizen and aristocrats alike welcomed the new teaching. But it was the political situation including the decreased political power of the Habsburgs due to the 3 splitting of the Habsburgian hereditary lands after the death of Emperor Ferdinand I and the Turkish threat including the first Turkish Siege of Vienna in 1529 that gave especially the aristocrats and through them the people the political freedom to follow the new Lutheran teachings.

But it was not an undisturbed success story for the Lutheran teaching in Vienna and the Habsburgian hereditary lands, it depended a lot on the political situation at any given time.

To understand this situation let’s look at this time in detail.  Shortly after the Lutheran teaching came to Vienna the younger brother of Emperor Karl V, Archduke Ferdinand, later Emperor Ferdinand I, left Spain and took the reign over the Austrian hereditary lands in 1521. He was not only a strict Roman Catholic but believed in the absolute rights of the souverain. But in Vienna the situation was quite different, as for a long time the land souverain was far away and the citizen tried to form a more independent administration. This changed dramatically when the new souverain Archduke Ferdinand really came in his lands. He didn’t even bother to enter Vienna but stopped in Wiener Neustadt and took the major and other citizen of Vienna who had tried to rebel against the old order to task which culminated 1522 in the Wiener Neustädter Blood Court and the execution of the major Martin Siebenbürger and several of his council men. For Vienna, this new strong sovereign power brought the loss of old rights and communal power. Not surprising Archduke Ferdinand also wanted to reestablish the Roman Catholic Church in its former position. In addition to the Wormser Edict from Emperor Karl V in the spring of 1521, which declared the “Reichsacht” (Reich ban) over Martin Luther which made him virtually right less, Archduke Ferdinand gave on March 12. 1523 an edict which prohibited all Protestant activity in his countries. As the Protestant believe had found roots in Vienna opposition to this edict arouse and so many Viennese Protestants found themselves in prison and Kaspar Tauber a prominent Viennese citizen was even executed on September 8.1524 for his refusal to return to the Roman Catholic Church.

With the death of his brother-in-law, King Ludwig II of Hungary on August 29.1526, and Ferdinand’s planed succession to the Hungarian Crown due to the Succession Agreement between the Hungarian Ruling Jagiellonian Family and the Habsburgian Family from 1515 Ferdinand not only inherited Ludwig II conflict with the since 1520 reigning Ottoman Sultan Süleyman I the Magnificent ,who forcefully enlarged his empire, but also had to fight against Jan Zápolya, who became the, from the national Hungarian political group and Sultan Süleyman I supported, Counter King. This conflict culminated in the First Turkish Siege of Vienna between September 21. and Oktober 15.1929. Despite the failed Siege of Vienna, Ferdinand I was only able to retain a relatively small part of the Hungarian kingdom for himself and he ultimately had to recognise Jan Zápolya as king of the rest of Hungary but the conflict with Zápolya´s successor and his associated Ottoman Empire continued. This situation brought several problems for the now King Ferdinand I. Hungary did not belong to the Holy Roman Empire, so he only got money and troops for his fight against the Ottoman Empire on Austrian territory but not the close Hungarian territory. With the Augsburger Peace of Religion 1555, which gave the princes of the realm the right to decide which confession, Catholic or Augsburger Confession they and their subjects followed many German princes of the realm became Protestants of the Augsburger Confession. As many of the estates of the realm, who had to approve on the money and troops, in the Holy Empire were now Protestants Augsburger Confession, Ferdinand I had to adapt his religious politic in his reign. Especially as his position in the Holy Empire became more prominent first as representant of his brother Emperor Karl V and after his brother’s resignation 1558 as new emperor. Ferdinands new politics of reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants showed in the Augsburger Peace of Religion from 1555 where he represented Emperor Karl V at the Reichstag.

A great problem for Ferdinand I was that his oldest son Maximilian showed a lot of sympathies for the Evangelical believe and he feared that his son would become a Protestant himself. Despite these fears Ferdinand I made sure that Maximilian would follow him as emperor of the Holy Empire but ordered in his last will, that his hereditary countries were parted between his 3 sons, Maximilian, only got the territories in present-day Lower and Upper Austria (Lawer Austria) as well as Bohemia and Hungary. The strictly Roman Catholic sons received the rest. Karl got   Styria, Carinthia and Carniola (Inner Austria) and Ferdinand ruled Tyrol with the Vorlanden (Upper Austria).

So, when Ferdinand I died on July 25. 1564 the Protestants in Vienna enjoyed a very sympathetic reign, but Maximilian II never left the Catholic Church despite his sympathies for the Protestant confession. In the Religious Denomination 1568 Emperor Maximilian II gave the noble families in his Austrian countries, who were mostly Protestants, the right to practise their Augsburger belief for them and their subjects, on their country estates, but this privilege was not given to the towns and smaller places, so the Protestant citizen of these places went to the noble places in the countryside to practise their faith. For the Protestants in Vienna the Viennese suburbs like Hernals, Inzersdorf, Rodaun and Vösendorf became the places to illegally take part of the noble’s religious practice. The most important protestant suburb was Hernals as the noble families Geyer and Jörger opened their estates and on Sundays the Protestant citizen went to Hernals to hear the Protestant sermons, and they also married and had their children baptised there.

After Maximilian II sudden death on October 12.1576 his eldest son Rudolf II became not only the next Emperor of the Holy Empire but also the new souverain in his father´s hereditary countries. Rudolf II was in mentally ill health which became increasingly worse and especially during the last 6 years of his reign he was no longer capable to rule. From the start of his rule, he made Prague his capital and Vienna lost its status as imperial residence. Rudolf II lived as a Roman Catholic but was especially in the first time of his rule personally tolerant to members of other confessions but soon he followed his brothers in their Counter-reformist politics. In 1577 he prohibited Protestant sermons and closed Protestant churches and schools in Vienna.

But it was still quite easy to live as Protestant in Vienna as Rudolf II and his brother Mathias needed the nobles in their power fight which in the end Mathias won due to the mental illness of Rudolf II. In 1608 Mathias became the new regent in the Austrian heredity countries which former belonged to Rudolf II and in 1611 he also became King of Bohemia and after the death of Rudolf II in 1612 he also became the new Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

In his younger years, Mathias II was a strict representative of the Counter-Reformation, but from his accession to the throne he sought to reconcile the confessions, so the religious situation in Vienna did not change.

As Mathias II had no legitim heir his cousin Archduke Ferdinand of Inner Austria became his designated successor and with Mathias declining health he gained power and due to family treaties, he became King of Bohemia in 1617 and King of Hungary in 1618 while Mathias II still lived. He was a strict representative of the Counter-Reformation, forcing even the Protestant nobility and Protestant scholars in his Inner Austrian hereditary lands to either become Catholic or leave the country. The loss of thousands of Protestants meant a severe economic decline in his lands.

It was therefore surprising that the largely Protestant bohemian estates elected him king. Before he was crowned, he had to swear, to accept the Letter of Majesty given by Emperor Rudolf II in 1609 which gave the bohemian estates religious freedom. But soon he showed that he was not willing to hold to this promise and he began his Counter Reformation politic. As a result of this politics Protestant bohemian nobles tossed high ranking officials on May 23. 1618 through a window of the Prague castle. This so called “Prager Festersturz” was the start point of the War of 30 Years, which also brought for a brief time a new Protestant Bohemian King.

This War of 30 Years brought for a long time the end of official Protestant religious practise in Austria and of course in Vienna. When the troops of Emperor Ferdinand II where successful at the Battle of the White Mountain on November 8.1620 Ferdinand II could not only reclaim the Bohemian Throne but also strength his power in all his hereditary lands. Like before in his Inner Austria´s lands he forced the people of his lands, including the nobles, to either came back to the Roman Catholic Church or leave his lands. For example, the last Protestant liege lord of Hernals, Helmhard von Jörger, who denied this and the homage to the emperor was publicly condemned as a rebel and his possessions forfeited. His possessions were confiscated for the emperor. His liege was given to the Cathedral Chapter of St. Stephan in Vienna.

On April 9. 1624 Emperor Ferdinand II gave a patent for Bohemia in which he only allowed the Roman Catholic faith and its religious praxis. A few days later he forbade the King´s towns to give citizen rights to non-Catholics and only Catholics were allowed to practise their trade there.

In Austria below the Enns, the historical name for Niederösterreich to which Vienna until 1921 belonged, followed 1627 with the Expulsion of preachers and schoolmasters.

After that the Protestant faith could only be practised in the chapels of foreign embassies and there only for their members or as so named Secret Protestants, who official where Catholics but secretly practised their Protestant faith. The punishment if found out was severe and often brought forced deportations in sparsely populated border areas of the monarchy or to Protestant foreign countries, leaving behind most of their property, and often children under the age of 14 were separated from their deported parents and brought up as Catholics in the country.

This was the situation until Emperor Joseph II issued on October 13.1781 the Patent of Toleration for the followers of the Augsburg and Helvetic Confessions as well as the non-United (Orthodox) Greeks, the so called “Acatholics”.

This Patent gave them the right to build a house of prayer and a school at their own expense for worship gatherings of fellow believers wherever at least 100 families lived within a radius of several hours. But there were still severe discriminations. The name church was reserved for Catholic places of worship and the Acatholic places of warship were not to be seen as such but had to look like normal town houses and of course were not allowed a tower. The Acatholic places of worship had also be at least 50 meters away from the main street and its entries had to face to the opposite side of the main street. Additional and more important for the daily lives of Acatholics was that they were still under the jurisdiction of the Catholic priests as those alone had the duty and right to register birth, marriage and deaths for the state including earning the fees for the rituals concerning these live occasions even when an Acatholic cleric performed the rituals.

Pastors had to be confirmed by the sovereign and Children from mixed marriages were to be brought up as Catholics. Acatholics needed a dispense, since 1848 from the provincial office, to acquire property, citizenship, master craftsman rights, academic dignities, and public offices.

As the number of Catholics who converted to the Protestant Confessions massively increased, especially in some regions of Austria above the Enns, Inner Salzkammergut and Schladming a new law was introduced in 1787 which made a 6 week Catholic teaching mandatory before somebody could convert from the Catholic Religion to a Achatholic confession.

It was not before 1849 that Acatholic pastors got the right to legally register birth, marriage and death and no extra fee for the Catholic priest was needed.

It was the Protestant Patent from April 8.1861 issued from Emperor Franz Josef I for the Augsburger and Helvetian Confession that the situation for Protestants improved greatly. Despite being embedded in the state Administration the officials in this religious administration had to be of Protestant believe. This patent gave the right to public Protestant worshiping. All restriction concerning their places of worship were abolished, even towers and bells were allowed. Protestant schools could be organised. Members of the Augsburger and Helvetian Confession now had the same civil and political rights as Members of the Catholic faith.

With the Protestant Act from 1961 ended the incorporation of the Protestant Augsburger and Helvetian Confession in the administrative organisation of Austria. These protestant confessions became their own legal personality as a public corporation and full autonomy from the state administration.

Today the religion has no influence concerning the citizen rights in Austria. As of 2023 the Protestant Churches of Augsburger and Helvetian Confession together have about 257,200 members in Austria.

Sources:

Evangelische Kirche Wien  : https://www.evang-wien.at/

Reformation: https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Reformation

Wien – eine Metropole als Reformationsstadt:

https://www.evang-wien.at/wien-eine-metropole-als-reformationsstadt

Thema: Reformation: https://www.evang-wien.at/thema-reformation

Brennen für den Glauben: https://www.wienmuseum.at/brennen_fuer_den_glauben

Wien war im 16. Jahrhundert mehrheitlich protestantisch:

https://www.katholisch.at/aktuelles/2017/02/15/wien-war-im-16.-jahrhundert-mehrheitlich-protestantisch

Karl von Otto, Die Anfänge der Reformation im Erzherzogthum Oesterreich (1522—1564), in: Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft für die Geschichte des Protestantismus 1 (1880) 11-20: Transkription Speer 2017

https://repertorium.at/sl/otto_anfaenge_1880.html

Luthernest Hernals. Reformation & Gegenreformation

https://www.bezirksmuseum.at/de/ausstellung/luthernest-hernals-reformation-gegenreformation/

Paul SPERATUS: https://museum.evang.at/persoenlichkeiten/paul-speratus/

Caspar Tauber: https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Caspar_Tauber

Jörger: https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/J%C3%B6rger

„Glaube oder Heimat“ 1648-1781: https://museum.evang.at/rundgang/1648-bis-1781/

Evangelisches Oberösterreich: https://www.ooegeschichte.at/archiv/themen/wir-oberoesterreicher/evangelisches-oberoesterreich

Geschichte der Evangelischen in OÖ: https://museum-ooe.evang.at/geschichte.html

Toleranzpatente Josephs II.: https://www.rechteasy.at/wiki/toleranzpatent/

Staatsgrundgesetz vom 21. Dezember 1867: https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=rgb&datum=1867&page=422&size=45

Bundesgesetz vom 6. Juli 1961 über äußere Rechtsverhältnisse der Evangelischen Kirche – Protestantengesetz Vom 6. Juli 1961: https://www.kirchenrecht.at/document/39209/search/protestantengesetz

Ausstellung: "Die Geschichte der Evangelischen in Wien":

https://www.evang-wien.at/ausstellung-die-geschichte-der-evangelischen-wien

Banner 1: Reformation und Gegenreformation: https://www.evang-wien.at/banner-1-reformation-und-gegenreformation

And more

The Memorial for the Viennese Jewish soldiers of World War I at the Wiener Zentralfriedhof

As a professional genealogist I regularly visit cemeteries in connection with family research where I often find interesting monuments and tombstones.

At the Wiener Zentralfriedhof there is a monument unknown to even most Viennese. It is located in the biggest cemetery in Vienna, the Wiener Zentralfriedhof (Simmeringer Hauptstraße 232-244, 1110 Vienna). This communal cemetery opened on 1. November 1874 and is in itself worth a visit. The biggest part of the cemetery is interconfessional, but some parts are dedicated to special confessions. In the beginning these parts were bought from the Community of Vienna, the owner of  this cemetery. The Jewish Community of Vienna (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien IKG) was the first to buy ground to provide plots for their members. Until 1938 IKG officially exercised administrative authority over their registered members. They bought the space directly behind Gate 1 of Zentralfriedhof on July 20. 1877. In March 1879 the first burials were conducted.

It is in this part of the cemetery the memorial for the fallen soldiers of World War I is located, close to Gate 11. It was constructed in 1928 in grey stone according to the plans from the architect Leopold Ponzen. 

Memorial seen from the outside.

Its form is quite unusual. Through a gate you enter a very small, roofed space, leading to another gate comparable to a double gate. 

View from inside of the memorial to the graves outside.

Following the gate is an octagonal building in the shape of a fortified tower without roof. The walls are crowned with battlements resembling tablets of law.

Inside there are a total of 7 white marble panels, one on each side except the door side. They contain the names of the fallen Viennese Jewish soldiers in alphabetical order, separated into officers and enlisted men.

List of names of the officers 

List of names of the names of the enlisted men

A concrete path leads to the centre of the monument, the panels stand in a ring of gravel around the centre of the octagon.

Above the panel on the opposite side of the gate is a tablet with an inscription in Hebrew  ‘No longer will people raise sword against people, and they will learn war no more.’

Inside the double gates is an inscription “„Die israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien ihren im Weltkrieg 1914–18 gefallenen Söhnen “(‘The Jewish Community of Vienna to its sons who died in the 1914-18 World War’)

The memorial was opened on 13. Oktober 1929 by Alois Pick, the Präsident of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien.

In 1999 the Vienna Military Command and the Austrian Black Cross, an organisation which looks after the gravesites of war dead, added a panel in remembrance of the Jewish soldier who served in the Austro-Hungarian army and the army of the first Austrian Republic and  who became victims of the Shoa.

Remembrance panel between the double gates

Between 1933 and 1937, an annual hero's memorial service was held at the Jewish war memorial, which was also attended by a guard of honour of the Austrian Armed Forces.

Outside the memorial are war graves of Jewish solders.

Interestingly the memorial was not damaged during the Nazi regime whilst graves and other Jewish buildings like the halls of ceremonies where damaged or destroyed.

Today exist two Jewish cemeteries within Zentralfriedhof. The Old Jewish Cemetery, with the war memorial had run out of space, so  in 1916  additional space was bought near Gate 4  and opened as New Jewish Cemetery in 1917.

Sources:

Wien Geschichte Wiki: Zentralfriedhof

Wien Geschichte Wiki: Jüdisches Kriegerdenkmal

Rote Spuren: Denkmal zu Ehren der jüdischen Soldaten aus dem ersten Weltkrieg

NETWORLD Database: DENKMAL FÜR JÜDISCHE SOLDATEN DES ERSTEN WELTKRIEGES UND KRIEGERDENKMAL AM ZENTRALFRIEDHOF WIEN, ÖSTERREICH

Former edition of Wiener Zentralfriedhof Website

Photos: Autor Katja-Maria Chladek