Heiligenkreuzerhof: the Baroque courtyard of Heiligenkreuz Abbey in the centre of Vienna

In Vienna, between Schönlaterngasse and Grashofgasse, a carriage gate opens onto a courtyard that most visitors pass by without noticing. It is the Heiligenkreuzerhof, in the first district (Innere Stadt), about five minutes on foot from Stephansplatz. From outside it's just another gateway in the old town; inside it's an arcaded quadrangle with Baroque façades, a stone fountain and walls that disappear under ivy in summer. It is a Durchhaus, a building you can pass through: you enter on one side and exit on the other, and precisely for that reason many use it as a shortcut without stopping.

The history

The complex has belonged to the Cistercian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz, in the Wienerwald, since the twelfth-thirteenth century, and remains its property to this day. The courtyard is already documented in 1242 and is often cited as one of the oldest residential structures still in use in Vienna: the vaults of the medieval cellars date to that era. Its present appearance, however, is the one given by the great Baroque rebuilding of the second half of the seventeenth century, commissioned by Abbot Klemens Schäffer between 1659 and 1676. The definitive form — the arcaded courtyard, the three-storey wing on Schönlaterngasse with its portal and decorated windows — dates to 1771. The abbey kept its own seat in the city here: the abbot lodged there when spiritual and political affairs kept him in Vienna for long stretches.

The chapel

The element not to miss is the Bernardikapelle, the chapel in the south-east corner, dedicated to Bernard of Clairvaux and facing directly onto Schönlaterngasse. It was consecrated in 1679 (an older chapel with the same dedication already existed, consecrated in 1662) and preserves a decorative ensemble of the high Baroque. The main altarpiece, with the Madonna nursing Saint Bernard (the Lactatio), is by Martino Altomonte, who lived in the Heiligenkreuzerhof until his death; the sculptures of the side altars and the statues of the patron saints of Lower and Upper Austria (Saint Leopold and Saint Florian) are by Giovanni Giuliani, master of Georg Raphael Donner; the ceiling frescoes are by Antonio Tassi. The chapel, restored between 2001 and 2003, is today the abbey's rectoral church and is also used for weddings.

Why it's little visited

Why does it remain overlooked? Above all because of its location: those who come to Vienna gravitate to Stephansplatz and Kärntner Straße, and it's enough not to know what lies behind those gateways to walk on by. The courtyard is almost always empty and entry is free. The chapel, on the other hand, is semi-public: it has no reliable fixed hours and is often closed, opened for guided tours, concerts or celebrations — it's best to check in advance with the rectorate of Heiligenkreuz Abbey if you want to see the interior. The courtyard and its arcades, in any case, can be visited on your own at any time.

Getting there

How to get there: from St Stephen's Cathedral you take Bäckerstraße and continue into Schönlaterngasse; the Heiligenkreuzerhof is on the left. The handy underground stops are Stephansplatz (U1, U3), Schwedenplatz (U1) and Stubentor (U3), all a few minutes on foot. The best time is early morning: the light slants into the courtyard and you can photograph it with no one around. A quarter-hour stop, to slot in between the cathedral and the Danube Canal, gives back a piece of monastic Vienna that lies exactly beneath the feet of the tourist centre.