Apparently not too many come to see this old church. Maybe not too many know about it. I got there when it was closed, but the stained glass windows, small, from the outside looked so contemporary that I wanted to come back when it was open.
It sits, as if emerging from the sidewalk, right at the front edge of this photograph.



it is so close to the buildings around it that you can at one place reach the church and the next building by stretching out your arms. A church without grounds.



It’s located a tiny alley away from the Jewish Synagogue, which is always under police protection. Therefore, it too, is always protected. This is a walkway through to the Synagogue, about 10 steps from the entrance to the church. You see the policemen at the end of it, and then you see what they are guarding.





Now I’ll show you the outside of the church a little walk around







And finally the inside, where yes, the windows were contemporary because they had been broken through times and wars, but there is one that has survived since 1270 that is the oldest church glass window in Vienna.

Here it is



and here is how it sits between the new contemporary partners







I especially liked the Romanesque crucifix



also the ebony Madonna in a side vestry



the sarcophagus of St. Vitalis, a martyr from the Roman catacombs. The skeleton, my notes say, is clothed in garments of the baroque style, and missing body parts were replaced in wax.



Let’s go back outside, where there is a business I did not take a look at, but I laughed at the name, and ever curious, I walked through the entry way to the left of the word Kitsch and found this in the back yard







Wiki info about the church
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Rupert%27s_Church,_Vienna

Visitor feedback from Tripadvisor
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g190454-d319316-r256195325-St_Rupert_s_Church_Ruprechtskirche-Vienna.html

Here is some information about the church, where I could only go as far as the locked wrought iron gate after opening the door. Also info about the graveyard church and graveyard date back to the second half of the 12th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Church,_Straubing

Now to my photos. They will show in the last two images that there was not only the activity dating back to the 12th century and beyond, but also the cemetery was used in the National Socialist times in spots and has one of their mass graves. Looking almost innocuously hidden and sneaked in.

I apologize for the many photos. I was overwhelmed being there.



























The mass grave: “Here rest 300 victims of the Nationalist Socialist Regime”

If you liked the photos, and if you feel like kicking back a few minutes you may want to take a tour of the cemetery filmed and set to music by someone I found on the internet. Seeing it made me remember what I felt like to wander those hallowed grounds.

I keep looking for more entries. Please.

Asam Church Munich
If by chance you get carried away by the opulence of baroque church interiors, please take a look at this one.
A small church in the heart of Munich. Once you see the photos you may want to read a bit in the link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asam_Church,_Munich

The entrance to the church is next to this facade. I could not believe it housed the jewel you are about to see. I missed taking a photo of the entire structure. I suspect this means I have to go back to handle this oversight.

Ran across this one just now while editing photos

When I was in Germany recently my brother loaded his family and my traveling companion into a vehicle he had “ordered” on line, given the specs for size, and picked up within a short bike ride from his house.
He locked up his bike, put the code into the lock of the vehicle and came back with it having rented it for the day.
(he has three almost grown children, and both he and his wife work. They all have a bicycle, he has one that is also motorized, and they have the streetcar stopping within a 3 min. walk from their house, and it takes them to the main train station that connects them to all other cities in about 10 min. The family owns / needs / no car), money has nothing to do with it).

I say all this because I have a pet peeve each time I’m visiting, and this time it is the paucity of options we Americans have about getting around.

Now,
to the subject matter:

https://www.calw.de/Monastery-Hirsau

On our excursion the most interesting stop was the old monastery in Hirsau. It is in ruins. People hang out and visit, walk around, have coffee and sumptuous cake at an outdoor cafe, and study a bit of the history.

Here are some photos.

Entering, wondering what’s to come



Jaw is now dropping and I’m getting a clue



Getting closer





and a few more shots of detail
















At the end of our day my brother disappeared with the car, and within 10 minutes was back riding his bike.

As I edit and throw out much of the wealth of my photos of my recent long trip - I run across photos of eating establishments. This one is in Novi Sad Serbia