It’s hard to go a day in Austria without running headfirst into a Baroque bonbon. You’ll find this one, the Mariahilferkirche, in the Mariahilferplatz, close by the Murinsel and the Kunsthaus. It is still home to Graz’s Minorites – their monastery is located to the south of the church.
The original kirche is the work of our old friend, Giovanni Pietro de Pomis. You may remember him as the man who created the elegant Mausoleum for Ferdinand II. Since the Mausoleum was obviously full, de Pomis is buried in the Mariahilferkirche.
De Pomis was trained by Tintoretto, which accounts for the Venetian flavor of the central pediment. Although de Pomis completed the church in A.D. 1607, the turrets were added by Joseph Hueber in A.D. 1742-1744. In the mid 18th century, it seemed every Austrian architect was busy plonking onion domes on top of buildings.
Architecture Bonus: Hueber was the pupil of Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, the master who designed the Belvedere.