The St. Othmar Church, also known as the “Weissgerberkirche”, is located on today’s Kolonitzplatz. The church was consecrated in honor of Saint Othmar, Cardinal Othmar von Rauscher’s patron saint. The church was named in thanks for the building donation of 60,000 guilders from the former Viennese cardinal. Today’s church was built between 1866 and 1873 according to plans by Friedrich Schmidt. On January 1, 1874 it became a parish church.

This white tanner church was actually the third church “among the white tanners”. The suburb of “Alttunaw” (for centuries the Danube flowed right through the bottom of the settlement later named “Unter den Weißgerbern”) was a parish of Simmering for a long time. It was not until 1646 that the country road with Weißgerber and Erdberg was separated from the parish of Simmering and St. Stephan was connected. The distance from St. Stephan has always been felt to be a hindrance, also in view of the many floods that repeatedly cut one off from the environment. The long-cherished wish of the Weißgerber population for their own church was only to be fulfilled in 1673. This first church building goes back to the foundation of the butcher couple Urban and Sabine Königs. They donated a church or chapel that was to be consecrated to the Holy Trinity, but was called “Margaretenkirchlein” after completion. This is because Empress Margarete, the wife of Leopold I, helped with this construction with a donation of 1,000 guilders. Just ten years later, the first little church was burned down during the Turkish siege in 1683. In 1690 it was decided to build a second church. Various benefactors were found who actively supported this project with donations. Emperor Leopold also donated 1,000 guilders. The second church was again called “Margaretenkirche” in memory of the emperor’s wife, who had died in the meantime; it was consecrated to Saint Margaret of Antioch. The little church existed for exactly 183 years, it was on the corner of today’s Radetzkystraße and Löwengasse (Radetzkyplatz) and was demolished only after the construction of the new Othmarkirche in 1875. The relatively small Margaretenkirche (it only held about 300 people) no longer corresponded to the new era. With the intervention of the auxiliary bishop of Vienna, Johann Kutschka, the new church was built on a part of the former so-called Bechardische Grund, bought by the community in 1860.

The new Othmar Church is a neo-Gothic massive raw brick building. The cruciform basilical interior of the church is of noble effect. Several artists participated in the interior design of the church. Among others, Rudolf Holzinger (images of the Way of the Cross, background paintings of the Sacred Heart altar), Edwin Grienauer (sculpture of St. Margaret) and Johann Melnitzky (statues of the four evangelists). In the years 1939–1944 the church was renovated. However, before the renovation work was completed, the church was severely damaged by a bomb in November 1944. Parts of the murals were destroyed by rain and moisture. The church windows, which were also damaged, were glazed with cathedral glass. It should also be mentioned that the tower, adorned with a crescent moon and a star (indicating the destruction of the first church by the Turks!), is Vienna’s third highest church tower at 80 m. In addition to these present-day parish churches, we also find a number of other interesting churches on the country road, some of which are religious orders, which will be discussed briefly below. First there is the Church and Convent of the Elisabethines on the Landstrasse. The nuns of this nursing order, whose model is St. Elisabeth of Thuringia came to Vienna from Graz in 1709. The St. Elisabeth Hospital is attached to the monastery. The institution, which has been in operation since the beginning of the 18th century, also contributes to the hospital care of the population today. The Elisabethinen church was built from 1709 to 1711 by Mathias Gerl the Elder. Ä. built, in 1743 Franz Anton Pilgram carried out modifications and extensions. The exterior is characterized by the fusion of church and monastery building. Inside we find baroque far from the Rococo. The magnificent altarpiece is the work of Johann Cimbal d. Ä. and shows the recording of St. Elizabeth in heaven. The monastery keeps a special treasure with the head of St. Elizabeth, which is exhibited annually on the side altar for public veneration in the octave of the festival (November 19). Elisabeth, daughter of Arpad Andreas I of Hungary, died in Marburg in 1231. The relic came to Vienna via many stations and was given to the Elisabethines at the end of the 18th century.

The “Convent Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” (Landstraßer Hauptstraße — corner of Keinergasse) is more recent. Built between 1903 and 1906 in the Rhenish-Romanesque style, this church is the work of the architect Gustav Neumann. It is clad as a brick shell with artificial stones, with its tower it dominates the silhouette of this part of the city. The church is the seat of the community “Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus”, the founder of this congregation was Viktor Braun from Alsace. The members of the community, who are praised as excellent nurses, have worked in many hospitals at home and abroad from the very beginning. The church, in which the former Archbishop Cardinal Innitzer celebrated mass for years, as well as the then Austrian Chancellor, Prelate Ignaz Seipel, has a remarkable pulpit with five mosaic images. The three-aisled interior gains a particularly solemn setting thanks to its wall paintings.

The war caused great damage to many sacred buildings, including the “Church of the Most Holy Redeemer” (Rennweg 63). This little church originally belonged to the tranquil order of the Redemptorists, since 1922 the “Congregation of the Comforters of Gethsemane” has been working here, which has set itself the task of pastoral care for Czechs abroad. The church was built in 1834–1836 according to plans by Karl Rösner.

The church “Sacre Cceur” at Rennweg 31 is also a religious order church. The church and monastery are the seat of the “Society of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart” (“Dames du Sacre Coeur”), whose coat of arms and motto adorn the church gate. The founder of this association was Magdalena Sophia Barat, but the spiritual father of the order was Father Franz de Tournely, whose remains are buried in a side chapel of the church. The damage of the war could also be repaired here. The Rennweger religious house (the building stands out due to the peculiar crowned mansard window) maintains a girls’ high school, an elementary school and a kindergarten.

Finally, two other religious orders should be mentioned, one of which is considered the most magnificent church in the third district and one of the most beautiful churches in Vienna — the church of the Order of the Visitation of Mary, popularly known as the Salesian Church. Both the church and the monastery owe their existence to Empress Amalia Wilhelmine of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the widow of Joseph I. She brought the Salesian order from Brussels to Vienna. The church and monastery were built between 1717 and 1730 by Felice Donato Allio. Two magnificent lattice gates lead to the front garden of the building complex, whose dome dominates the area from afar. The merging of the church and monastery facade is particularly successful, which is achieved by the continuous main cornice on the first floor. From the inside of the church, the magnificent ceiling fresco “Assumption of the Virgin Mary” by Antonio Pellegrini and the painting on the high altar “Visitation of the Virgin Mary” by Antonio Bellucci should be mentioned. The side altars are decorated with paintings by Pellegrini and Jacob von scales.

A rococo work of art is the “Church of the Holy Cross of the Congregation of Resurrectionists” (Polish Church), popularly known as the “Guard Church”. The church was built by Nikolaus Pacassi on the orders of Maria Theresia in 1755–1763 as a Garde Hospital church. It is a simple square building with a red tiled roof and a green dome. Rich stucco on the inside gives the room an elegant character. The wall behind the high altar is decorated with Peter von Strudel’s painting “Christ on the Cross”, below the St. Joseph altarpiece we find a copy of the Mother of God of Częstochowa. This is because the church has been the Polish national church in Vienna since 1897.