My drive through Vienna’s 19th district took me to the Sisi Chapel, located on the Pfaffenberg “in the sky.” I parked my car at the side of the road and set off on foot to explore the chapel in the Vienna Woods. The Sisi Chapel was Vienna’s first neo-Gothic building and was constructed between 1854 and 1856 by the city architect Josef Kastan on the occasion of the wedding of the imperial couple Elisabeth and Franz Joseph I on April 24, 1854. The client was Baron Johann Carl Freiherr von Sothen, and the architect of this neo-Gothic gem was Johann A. Garben. The Sisi Chapel was intended not only as a memorial to the imperial couple’s wedding, but also as the final resting place of the client and his wife. On July 31, 1856, the chapel, originally named Elisabeth Chapel but popularly known only as Sisi, the nickname of Empress Elisabeth, was consecrated. For years, the Sisi Chapel, once surrounded by a magnificent English garden landscape, was a popular destination for the Viennese population. After the violent death of Baron von Sothen in 1881, he was buried in the chapel, as was his wife in 1903. The Sisi Chapel was bequeathed to the convent “Zum Armen Kinde Jesu” (To the Poor Child Jesus), which took over the care of the chapel in 1911. In 1927, the chapel underwent extensive renovation, but suffered considerable damage during the Second World War. Its condition deteriorated further in the following years due to vandalism. It was threatened with demolition, but this was averted by a decision of the Federal Monuments Office in 1975. However, there was no money for the urgently needed renovation of the chapel. Salvation came in 2002 when the non-profit association “Kuratorium Wald” acquired the building and the land. After developing a €1.1 million financing concept and receiving many donations from companies and private individuals, the groundbreaking ceremony for the renovation of the chapel took place on April 14, 2004. The Sothen couple were reburied in the newly built crypt on the south side of the chapel. Between 2004 and 2005, the chapel was completely renovated. It was given a transparent glass roof with a view of the sky, state-of-the-art audiovisual technology, and an LED lighting system. On July 8, 2006, the time had finally come and the Sisi Chapel was ceremoniously opened in its new design with the commissioned composition “Kryptomnesie” by O.M. Zykan in a light show by Hans Hoffer. Even from a distance, I could see the Sisi Chapel through the tall oak trees, idyllically situated on a hill in the Vienna Woods, a place where nature meets art. This “crossroads of nature” is impressively displayed inside on a wall with 14 integrated flat screens. The Sisi Chapel, with its multi-sound system for indoor and outdoor sound, 14 flat screens, LED spotlights, and broadband Internet connection, is an ideal venue for celebrations and other cultural or special occasions. I was enchanted by this chapel with its glass roof and beautiful natural backdrop. For me, it was the perfect wedding chapel, where the princess marries her prince and then celebrates a heavenly wedding party in the nearby Café Restaurant Oktagon am Himmel. The Sisi Chapel miraculously combines culture, nature, and art, and thanks to its complex media equipment, it is suitable for many events of various forms and content. I enjoyed the beauty of the chapel and recharged my batteries in the pure air of the Vienna Woods. Incidentally, the face of Empress Sisi is immortalized on the chapel’s historic bell.
