--- type: exposition title: WOTRUBA. Heavenwards language: en url: "https://www.belvedere.at/en/fritz-wotruba-church" --- # WOTRUBA. Heavenwards ## The Church on the Georgenberg ![ Installation view "WOTRUBA. Heavenwards"](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/header_cropped_1920x480_fp/public/2021-04/Wotruba%20Presse-4%20DETAIL%20f%C3%BCr%20Homepage.jpg.webp?itok=uU2yTpS5) **Duration:** 6 May 2021 - 30 January 2022 Forty-five years after the consecration of the *Church of the Most Holy Trinity* on the Georgenberg in the district of Vienna Mauer – the so-called Wotruba Church – the Belvedere will for the first time present an exhibition specifically dedicated to this vital work. The church building, which at the time was highly controversial, was based on the design by Austrian sculptor Fritz Wotruba (1907–1975) and was built between 1974 and 1976 in collaboration with the architect Fritz Gerhard Mayr. Curated by Gabriele Stöger-Spevak. \#FritzWotruba ### [Belvedere 21](https://www.belvedere.at/en/visit/belvedere-21) **Opening hours:** Tuesday to Sunday, 11 am - 6 pm; Late Night: Thursday, 11 am - 9 pm **Address:** Belvedere 21, 1030 Vienna ([Getting there]()) [Tickets](https://www.belvedere.at/en/tickets?location%5B0%5D=4) ##### In cooperation with - [Die Presse](https://www.diepresse.com/) - [Parnass](https://www.parnass.at/) ## Impressions - ![Ausstellungsansicht "WOTRUBA. Himmelwärts" — Installation view "WOTRUBA. Heavenwards" — Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/2021-04/Wotruba%20Presse-2.jpg.webp?itok=B419bVoI) - ![Ausstellungsansicht "WOTRUBA. Himmelwärts" — Installation view "WOTRUBA. Heavenwards" — Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/2021-04/Wotruba%20Presse-16.jpg.webp?itok=AOFvuaxP) - ![Ausstellungsansicht "WOTRUBA. Himmelwärts" — Installation view "WOTRUBA. Heavenwards" — Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/2021-04/Wotruba%20Presse-17.jpg.webp?itok=xvDST3dc) - ![Ausstellungsansicht "WOTRUBA. Himmelwärts" — Installation view "WOTRUBA. Heavenwards" — Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/2021-04/Wotruba%20Presse-20.jpg.webp?itok=SNKOiXXr) - ![Ausstellungsansicht "WOTRUBA. Himmelwärts" — Installation view "WOTRUBA. Heavenwards" — Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/2021-04/Wotruba%20Presse-4.jpg.webp?itok=fSRzdxo1) - ![Ausstellungsansicht "WOTRUBA. Himmelwärts" — Installation view "WOTRUBA. Heavenwards" — Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/2021-04/Wotruba%20Presse-15.jpg.webp?itok=gPh8kneo) - ![Ausstellungsansicht "WOTRUBA. Himmelwärts" — Installation view "WOTRUBA. Heavenwards" — Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/2021-04/Wotruba%20Presse-24.jpg.webp?itok=4ZMKLOjn) - ![Ausstellungsansicht "WOTRUBA. Himmelwärts" — Installation view "WOTRUBA. Heavenwards" — Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/2021-04/Wotruba%20Presse-33.jpg.webp?itok=zd3AfUx8) - ![Ausstellungsansicht "WOTRUBA. Himmelwärts" — Installation view "WOTRUBA. Heavenwards" — Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/2021-04/Wotruba%20Presse-35.jpg.webp?itok=Qe5IUFb4) - ![Ausstellungsansicht "WOTRUBA. Himmelwärts" — Installation view "WOTRUBA. Heavenwards" — Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/2021-04/Wotruba%20Presse-52.jpg.webp?itok=_3lGJRh1) ## The Artist ![Fritz Wotruba in seinem Atelier bei der Arbeit an einem Tonmodell für das Projekt eines Karmelitinnenklosters in Steinbach bei Wien, später für die Kirche Zur Heiligsten Dreifaltigkeit auf dem Georgenberg, Wien-Mauer, 1967 — Fritz Wotruba in his studio working on a clay model for the Carmelite convent project in Steinbach near Vienna, 1967 — Belvedere, Vienna, estate of Fritz Wotruba](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/media-directories/Wotruba%20mit%20Dohle%20Hansi%20im%20Atelier%20Foto%204_0.jpg.webp?itok=mSJvH_nM) Fritz Wotruba (1907–1975) is considered one of the most significant European sculptors of classical modernism. As a critical voice, he became a key figure in the reconstruction of artistic and cultural life in Vienna in the post-war decades. Figures composed of cuboids and tubular and cylindrical forms are a hallmark of Fritz Wotruba's oeuvre. He developed his concept of abstraction in the period after 1945 in dialogue with international modernity. Around 1960 he began to transform his work as he focused attention on set design. His design of three-dimensional stage elements, situated between figure and architecture, called for a new kind of spatial extensions and activation of individual cubic components. Wotruba expanded the figure into a living figuration, where ideas of figure, nature, landscape, and architecture merged. The variety of Fritz Wotruba's late works ranges from dynamic to strictly abstract architectural outcomes. On these principles and as a synthesis of his work, the sculptor created the design for the *Church of the Most Holy Trinity* in Vienna's district of Mauer. ## The Church - ![Kirche Zur Heiligsten Dreifaltigkeit auf dem Georgenberg in Wien-Mauer — Church of the Most Holy Trinity on the Georgenberg in Vienna-Mauer, view from south-east — Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/media-directories/Wotrubakirche-Johannes%20Stoll_0.jpg.webp?itok=yjs-XbND) - ![Modell der Kirche des Karmelitinnenklosterprojekts — Model showing the church of the Carmelite convent project in Steinbach near Vienna, 1967 — Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/2021-05/Modell%20P4%20FW1460.jpg.webp?itok=3cksm4x-) - ![Fritz Wotruba, Skizze zu einer Architektur, 1966 — Fritz Wotruba, architectural sketch, 1966 — Photo: Harald Eisenberger / Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/media-directories/_L3C4614_klein_0.jpg.webp?itok=HvgmGvzE) ## Video