St. Francis of Assisi Church

The St. Francis of Assisi Church, commonly referred to as Mexikokirche, is a magnificent Basilica-style Catholic church located on Mexikoplatz. It was built between 1898 and 1910 and consecrated in 1913. The church’s construction commemorated the 50th anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria’s reign. Architect Victor Luntz designed the four-bay brick building in the Rhenish-Romanesque style, with three red-tiled towers visible from several kilometers away. The church stands near the Danube and now serves as the home for the Vienna English Speaking Catholic Community (VESCC), which has held weekly masses there since 2009. Mexikoplatz (Mexico Square), where the church is located, was named to honor Mexico, the only country outside the Soviet Union that protested against Austria’s Anschluss (annexation) to Nazi Germany. The church also features the Elisabethkapelle (Elizabeth Chapel), an Art Nouveau-style chapel dedicated to Sisi (Empress Elisabeth of Austria). The chapel’s gold mosaics and marble walls commemorate her tragic assassination by the Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni in 1898.