Hof#

Hof (Am Hof), in Vienna´s 1st district, originally a Roman camp, from 1156 site of the Babenberg court (= "Hof") from which it derived its name, medieval festival, tournament and later market square ( Christkindlmarkt). The church Am Hof was built 1386-1403 for the Carmelites on the site of the former Romanesque court chapel and given to the Jesuits in 1553. The patronage "The Nine Choirs of Angels" ("Zu den 9 Choeren der Engel") derives from the original altar of the Carmelite church, the "Albrechtaltar", several panels of which can today be found in Klosterneuburg Abbey; 1783 parish church, 1952 subjected to the archiepiscopal authorities, today seat of the Croatian Catholic Mission. Baroque alterations of the interior from around 1610; the façade with balcony, altered 1662 by C. A. Carlone, is a masterpiece of early Baroque. Pope Pius VI gave his Easter blessing from this balcony in 1782, and in 1806 the end of the Holy Roman Empire was declared there. The marble column dedicated to the Virgin Mary, sculpted by J. J. Pock in 1646 and moved to Wernstein Castle (Upper Austria) in 1667, was replaced by a bronze statue (by B. Herold, pedestal by C. M. Carlone and C. Canevale). Other buildings on the square are the central fire station (former citizens´ arsenal) and the Maerkleinsche Haus (1727-30 by J. L. v. Hildebrandt); the site of the Babenberg castle was occupied by the Ministry of War (Court Council of War) from 1776 to 1912, which was replaced in 1915 by the premises of the Oesterreichische Laenderbank (today Bank Austria).