Vienna St. Francis of Assisi Church

Yesterday was Austria's Independence Day.

To summarize what that means, you can read this:  "After World War II (1939-45), the four allied powers 

(the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union) divided Austria and Vienna into four occupation zones, with an Allied Council for Austria assuming authority over matters affecting the whole country. In 1955, these four powers and the Republic of Austria signed the Austrian State Treaty, which ended the occupation and declared Austria to be a free, independent, and neutral state."  (Taken from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3165.htm, where you can read more details.  If you do, then here's a random side note for you:  The Habsburgs that are mentioned there, as the former imperial family, has two descendants that go to our school, and I teach one of them!)

Anyways, I celebrated by sleeping in long and hard (LONG WEEK), grading, and exploring a bit around the city.

I set off in search of a cathedral in an area known as Mexikoplatz to find a huge cathedral I'd seen from the highway a few months ago.

I got the following information from http://www.wienvienna.com/vienna-st-francis-of-assisi-church-picture/:

Vienna St. Francis of Assisi Church is located in the south-eastern part of Mexikoplatz (Mexico Square – the church also used to be called Mexikokirche in the past).  Like many other cities, Vienna also has a church dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, who is calledHeiliger Franz von Assisi in the German language. The church is one of the most beautiful churches in Vienna and from a distance it looks more like a fairytale castle. Alternative name for the church is Kaiser-Jubiläums-Kirche (Emperor’s Anniversary Church), as it was built on the occasion of Emperor Franz Josef I.’s 50th anniversary on the Austro-Hungarian throne (the anniversary was in 1898, the church was built between the years 1898 and 1910).

"Mexikoplatz" means "Mexico place", but I have no idea how it got its name, and I can't find anything online about it, so...sorry!

ISN'T IT HUGE??!?

It says, "Mexico was, in March 1938, the only nation that, prior to the violent anschluss with the Nationalist-Socialist German Empire, registered an official protest. In commemoration of this act, the city of Vienna has given this square the name Mexico Square."