Karlskirche
The Karlskirche—Charles Church—is a Baroque declaration of faith and imperial politics, dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeo, a key figure of the Counter-Reformation. In 1713, just one year after Vienna’s last major plague epidemic, Emperor Charles VI pledged to build a church in his namesake’s honour, because Borromeo was revered as a healer for plague sufferers. The architectural competition was won by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, and construction began in 1716 under supervision of Anton Erhard Martinelli. After Fischer’s death in 1723, his son, Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach, completed the work in 1737, altering the original plans. What makes the façade distinctive is the way it borrows from antiquity: the central frontage echoes a Greek temple portico, and the flanking columns, made by Lorenzo Mattielli, were inspired by Trajan’s Column in Rome. …
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