Vienna MIR RoomPack 3 - Mystic Spaces

The Steinhofkirche as seen from Dietz' kitchen window

It is visible from nearly every location in the south and west of Vienna. A glinting golden cupola high on a hill, which seems to float above the roofs of the city - the Steinhofkirche. A work of art, a milestone of architecture, and a singular landmark at the same time, the building first of all was a sociopolitical statement when it was built at the beginning of the 20th century; a highly functional building as part of the at that time most modern psychiatric hospital in Europe.

The church at Steinhof (in short: Steinhofkirche) in today's Socio-medical Center at Baumgartner Höhe has many names. As it was consecrated to the patron saint of Lower Austria, its official denomination is "Kirche des Hl. Leopold". Also, it is often called Otto Wagner Church after its architect, maybe the most important representative of "Jugendstil", the Viennese Art Deco. The notoriously disrespectful Viennese vernacular rather prefers another approach: With a bit of malignity the building could be said to look like a lemon so that it is called "Lemoniberg" (Lemon Mountain) or even "Monte Lemone". And more romantic minds think of the "Golden Dome of the White City".

For us who are mainly interested in the acoustic peculiarities of this unique building, it simply is the "Viennese Taj Mahal". Ten seconds of long, dense, crystal-clear reverb engulf the visitor after entering the nave - an experience that makes believers and musicians alike attain - so to speak - other spheres.

We are very proud to be able to present this room to the users of Vienna MIR as a comprehensive Impulse Response Multi-Sample. To capture it, the MIR team spent several heavily snowed-in days and especially nights in winter at 2 degrees Centigrade inside (!) temperature in the Steinhofkirche, because these were the only conditions where the external noise was soft enough for our undertaking. Alas, during the winter months, the church is not heated ...

Our special thanks go to Mr Paul Keiblinger, the Socio-medical Center's responsible (and very much attached to "his" church) managing director. He gave the MIR team the opportunity to record this incomparable room and supported us in every imaginable way.

Vienna is the birthplace of Sigmund Freud and of psychoanalysis. But even before, the "Landes-, Heil- und Pflegeanstalt für Geistes- und Nervenkranke" (State hospital and nursing home for people with mental diseases and nervous disorders) inaugurated on October 8, 1907, by archduke Franz Ferdinand immediately made Vienna the foremost city of Europe with regard to psychiatry - not least owing to the unique cooperation of medicine and architecture. The so-called "White City" comprised 61 buildings and at that time was the largest and most modern psychiatric institution of its kind. The pavilions were designed to be conducive to healing with their regular arrangement in the midst of nature, visually "crowned" by Otto Wagner's Kirche am Steinhof.

The whole erection of the hospital on an area of 144 hectares was completed in a mere 3 years - without technical aids like cranes, lifts, or trucks. Actually, it was three institutes which were built: The hospital with 13 pavilions, the nursing facility with 11 pavilions, and the sanatorium for patients of means with 10 pavilions

To complement and complete the structure, a social building with a large festival room (the so-called Jugendstil-Theater), a laundry, a boiler house, a nursery, and an access yard were included; even workshops for patients were planned. Moreover, there were tenements for doctors, nurses, and other employees.

Situated on the highest point of the hospital area, the church was the only building of the asylum besides the head office which should be visible to outsiders. To further emphasize the desired role of the church, Otto Wagner planned the high cupola and had it gilded, too.

Symptomatically, the asylum church designed by Otto Wagner was rejected by the population. At that time building a church entirely of "ungodly" materials like steel and concrete was unthinkable. Critics had opined that the madmen would become even madder in this church. The "crazy" modern building was only tolerated because it was built in a so-called closed "lunatic asylum" outside the city limits. Emperor Kaiser Franz Josef II, who had laid the asylum's foundation stone on September 27, 1904, did not attend the inauguration in 1907, and in fact never visited Baumgartner Höhe again.

By planning and building this church, the architect Otto Wagner created an architectural monument for the entire western suburbs of Vienna out of the "ausschließliche Anstaltskirche des Hl. Leopold" (exclusive institute church of St. Leopold). Moreover, over the years the "Steinhofkirche" became the Art Deco monument par excellence and influenced many other buildings of the time.

The purposefulness with which Wagner took care of the special needs of mentally diseased church visitors and their attendants is especially interesting. Among other things, the church has separate sanitary facilities and secondary rooms typical for a hospital; like the nave itself, they are especially easy to clean.

Otto Wagner also contributed much to the interior design: Altars, tabernacles, a hygienical dripping dispenser for holy water, lighting, confessionals, and even the chasubles were made according to his design. Apart from Otto Wagner himself, his colleagues Otto Schönthal and Marcell Kammerer took part in the realization of the church.

The church rises on a ground plan in the shape of a Greek Cross with equilateral arms - its crowning cupola is 25 meters high (28 meters together with the cross) with an outer diameter of 18 meters. The church's total height is 44 meters. The inner four main pillars that bear the cupola were designed as double pillars on which rests an iron construction with the high supporting formwork of the outer cupola, while inside the church has a much flatter cupola. Because of its outer appearance, the church presents the dominant for the 60 buildings in the whole area, the additional height between the outer cupola and the inner conclusion of the nave makes sense.

The building's face is revetted with stone plates made of white Carrara marble. The two front towers which take up the choir and organ stairways are crowned by two sitting statues. They depict St. Leopold, the patron saint of Lower Austria, and St. Severin, a mythical missionary of the Danube region. The portal and its projecting roof over the stairs of the main entrance are decorated with four pillars topped by winged angels.

The total cubature of the church is approximately 23,000 cubic meters. It provides space for 800 people, 400 of them seated.

The church's inside has a height-to-width ratio of 1:1. At its front there is the high altarpiece with an area of 78.83 m². It was designed by the painter Remigius Geyling and executed by the Viennese mosaic workshop Leopold Forstner. The altar piece's provisionaries were done by the painter Carl Ederer. The two side altarpieces were also done in mosaics by Rudolf Jettmar. The glass windows were created by Kolomann (Kolo) Moser, then at the height of his career, and executed by the company of Carl Geyling's Erben. - Legendary are the stories about rejected original designs and typically "Viennese" solutions which after lots of see-sawing led to the creation of the images that were finally installed; the details however would go beyond the scope of this brief introduction.

The building was originally estimated to cost 850,000 Crowns and later reduced to 575,000 Crowns; the final account was 668,000 Crowns. Today this would amount to about 3.5 million Euros. For comparison: A worker at that time earned around 1,000 Crowns per year.

In the spring of 2001, a general refurbishment of the Kirche am Steinhof was started. In the course of the renovation, which was concluded in 2006, the weathered cupola which was covered in verdigris was also freshly gilded, so that it now shines again over the roofs of Vienna.

For more than a century the Steinhofkirche with its incomparable acoustic properties has been a truly magical attraction for musicians and music enthusiasts. It is still used regularly for concerts today - the Steinhofkirche can be found in programs of the Vienna Festival or meditative concerts of contemporary composers as well as for classical church music. The programs naturally are attuned to the exceptional acoustic of the church hall: Certain works - e.g., by Giovanni Pietro da Palestrina, William Byrd, Arvo Pärt, and many others - need a special resonance body to unfold fully, and this is offered by Otto Wagner's church. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of its inauguration, the "Steinhofer Jubiläumsmesse" (Steinhof Jubilee Mass) by Paul Koutnik was performed for the first time.

Moreover, the church has a compact Art Deco organ by the master craftsman Swoboda from 1907. With its perfect build, the instrument is a very rare piece. Its action is pneumatical instead of mechanical.

Recording setup on the balcony

For Vienna MIR the Steinhofkirche's nave was recorded from three microphone positions: Mic 1 is positioned near the altar, Mic 2 in the middle of the nave under the cupola, and Mic 3 near the main entrance next to the organ gallery.

All in all, over 2,200 IRs were gathered to virtually recreate the acoustics of this building.

We call the entire altar space at the front side of the nave plus the adjoining area in front of the balustrade the "stage". Only the narrow passage behind the altar is excluded and cannot be "played" in MIR.

Added to this are a number of so-called HotSpots: Two possible positions each in the left and right side aisles, one position in the rear at the main entrance, and the entire balcony of the organ gallery. This means that basically the Steinhofkirche can be used in MIR from each side of the main microphones!

Heating the microphones for optimum recording at 2° Centigrade

Apart from that, the gilded pulpit left of the altar (marked by a red velvet parapet) is especially noteworthy: Here, too, instruments can be placed and freely rotated. The perfect place for a "preaching" soloist. ;-)

Naturally, the impressive reverb time of about 10 seconds has its price for the MIR Engine: With 4 GB, the RAM usage of this Multi Impulse Response Set is very high. Therefore, the set's "Stage" version dispenses with all HotSpots beyond the altar room but only needs about 2 GB RAM.

The image shows the MIR Venue Map of Steinhofkirche, including the three available main microphone positions, the "stage" area around the altar, and the off-stage hotspots in the nave and on the balcony.

650 years of mystic sound

The ancient cultivated land around Graz, the capital of Styria (and of Austria, too, when it comes to sunniness) is rich in big treasures and little wonders. One of them can easily be found in the foothills of the Alps north of the city: the pilgrimage church Maria Strassengel, founded in 1346. One of Austria's most important Late Gothic ecclesiastical buildings is situated on an exposed hill with an open view on three sides. Even the passing traveler's fleeting glance will recognize the extraordinary oneness of the place and architecture - a downright magical location that has attracted people from all over the world for nearly a millennium. A dedicated visit to the church with its prominent northern spire will reward the wayfarer with exceptional architecture, a fantastic panorama of the Alps and the hill country of Graz from a truly elevated perspective … And an inn that has been welcoming guests for over 400 years.

Gothic architects had an infallible sense of dimensions and proportions. Their architecture informs the eye as well as the ear with the mystic and sacral experience of rapture and celestial unworldliness. The church of Strassengel is no exception, so it hardly comes as a surprise that the comparatively small main nave impresses one with its wonderful acoustics whose outstanding feature is a dense and strikingly brief reverb.

We are very happy to present this unique historic room to the users of Vienna MIR as a comprehensive Multi Impulse Response set. To capture it, we spent two days and especially nights there, waiting for the noise of the distant traffic to subside, anxiously expecting the awakening of the birds in the surrounding woods, and in between trying to capture as many recordings as possible.

Our special thanks go to the friendly and helpful people of the parish of Strassengel-Gratwein, Father Philipp and Mrs. Ingrid Jaritz.

The first documented mention of Strassengel dates back far into the Middle Ages. Even in the middle of the 9th-century documents name two fortified villages "ad Strazinolun duo loca". From this, one may infer that the area was populated by Slavs much earlier - Slavic strazilna means "little look-out". The German name "Strassengel", which could be loosely translated as "Angel of the Road", is just a homonym.

Strassengel, copper engraving from G.M. Vischer's "Topographia Ductus Stiriae", 1681

In the year 1147, by decree of margrave Otakar III of Styria, the place was assigned to the Cistercian monastery of Rein, and in the following years a first chapel was erected on the hill called "Frauenkogel" ("Women's Knoll"). Two mystical cult objects made Strassengel famous far beyond the country's borders so that it soon became a place of pilgrimage for Christian believers: a picture of the Virgin Mary in which margrave Otakar III allegedly saw a vision of Mary, and a naturally grown artifact called "Wurzelkreuz" ("root cross") which shepherds had found in the surrounding woods.

The influx of pilgrims attracted by various legends about the sanctuaries' wonderful properties was so great that the original wood chapel was replaced with a stone building at the beginning of the 13th century. In the year 1346, the foundation stone was lain for the church which in its main features still exists today (… other sources state that building work already began in 1331 under the aegis of the mason's lodge of Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral). Anyway, the church was inaugurated in 1355, but work on the edifice continued for several years; e.g., the characteristic northern spire with its height of 48 meters was only completed in 1366, and the famous stained glass windows were installed near the end of the 14th century.

The history of the church continues with further additions and changes to the building. Owing to the insecure times of the late Middle Ages, the main building as well as the adjoining ones were enclosed by a monumental defense wall around 1480, most of which still exists today and lends the whole ensemble a somewhat detached impression of secludedness. Opposed to this, the church's western wing with its Late Gothic "new building" erected from 1668 to 1696, marked by its three-story column arcades, virtually exudes a mediterranean-Italian air. - Since its erection in the year 1582, the tavern vis-à-vis the collegiate has served as an inn and guest house without any interruption!

At the end of the 17th century, the church itself was expanded in the south by a vestry and especially by the St. Anna's Chapel which over the following 50 years was magnificently embellished in late Baroque style - a radical counterpart to the straightforward plainness of the Gothic part of the building. The pictures of the two side altars, too, come from that time: they were painted around 1780 by the legendary "Kremser Schmidt".

During the Enlightenment period under the Habsburg emperor Joseph II, the church was briefly threatened by demolition in 1788, which could only be prevented through a petition by the parish addressed directly to the emperor.

After several fittings and changes in the late 18th and 19th centuries, the church was at last completely renovated between 1976 and 1985, and a new organ was built in 1995. On this occasion, the organ loft was also furnished with a new stage floor which today is often used for performances of sacral choir and instrumental music.

The south-east oriented pilgrimage church's prominent landmark is the spire over the north-east choir which measures 48 meters from the ground. Its open-worked tracery helm, the life-sized stone statues, and the rich building ornaments make it one of the most remarkable Gothic spire constructions in Austria. Its similarity to antetypes like the Gaming Charterhouse and especially the southern spire of Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral is quite obvious.

The edifice in general shows striking parallels with the world-famous St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna with regard to dimensions and details. The square transverse section of the three-story church shows a so-called hall room, with the central nave being slightly higher than the side aisle arches. The height of the central nave is 13.8 meters, the columns are 9.12 meters high. The church's inner length is 28 meters in the central nave and 23.7 meters in the side aisles; its width without the Baroque extensions is 12.6 meters. This floor plan design with three polygonal apses, but also the bay construction and the staggered choir correspond with the plan of St. Stephen's Cathedral.

Another remarkable feature is the building's artistic design: e.g., the large tympanum reliefs over the west and south portals are unequaled 14th-century masterpieces full of symbolism. The unique Gothic stained glass windows and rosettes partly had to be renewed or replaced over the course of the centuries; still, the incidence of light into the church has lost little of its mythical power.

A proverbially mystic place that exudes an aura of spirituality.

The pilgrimage church as a whole is a living Gesamtkunstwerk become manifest over 600 years of architecture and art history. For instance, there were five altars dating back to the 14th century of which none are preserved. Following the Baroque additions and changes, between 1884 and 1885 the three main and side altars were replaced - according to the zeitgeist - with neo-Gothic designs by the architect Robert Micovics from Graz. Only some of the surrounding oil paintings are supposed to originate from the building period at the end of the 14th century. The pristine white basilican altar made of white marble was erected only in 1998.

One may safely assume that as early as 1550 the pilgrims already could enjoy the sounds of an organ - a restoration and extension of the organ by master organ builder Georg Oberburger is documented for the year 1586. In 1731 at the latest, it was replaced with an instrument by master Andreas Schwartz which already had 18 stops. In 1902 the pilgrimage church was equipped with a pneumatic organ from the workshop of Konrad Hopferwieser.

The organ which today dominates the space over the western portal was completed in 1995 by Martin Pflüger. The three-manual instrument with its Ruckpositiv integrated into the gallery balustrade has 30 stops and 1,868 pipes made of metal and wood.

The close affiliation of christian Catholic liturgy and sacred music has made many European churches places of music, too. The pilgrimage church of Strassengel with its wonderful acoustics today more than ever is a sought-after place for performances of sacred and secular music alike. At the end of the 19th century, there was a local laymen's choir which regularly used the church for performances. This regular utilization was accounted for with the latest renovations: the organ gallery was converted to a regular stage with a wooden floor, providing ample space for choirs as well as instrumental ensembles. The music program offers a wide choice and also is available online at http://www.pfarre-gratwein-strassengel.at.

For Vienna MIR the nave of the Wallfahrtskirche Maria Strassengel was recorded from four microphone positions: Mic 1 is positioned near the altar, Mic 2 is in the middle of the nave, and Mic 3 is near the main entrance beneath the organ gallery. Mic 4 was positioned almost on the same horizontal coordinates as Mic 3, but about 6 meters above it on the organ gallery. All in all, over 2,000 IRs were gathered to virtually recreate the acoustics of this building.

The Strassengel recording team in front of the church's main entrance:
David Ender, Dietz Tinhof, Thomas Meitz, Martin Pauser

Due to its special form, there are actually two possible "stage areas" in the nave. The more conventional one is the perspective facing the altar. The less obvious one faces the organ loft in the back of the nave, where the wooden stage is often used for choir and ensemble music with or without organ accompaniment. Please take a look at the screenshots of the Venue Maps to get the idea.

The average length of the impulse responses is about 5"; the average RAM usage per Venue tends to be around 1 GB.

CSI Vienna: taking measurements of the main nave with the help of a laser-based electronic level meter.

The images show the MIR Venue Maps of the pilgrimage church of Strassengel in Altar Perspective (0°) as well as Choir and Organ Loft Perspective (180°), each including the four available main microphone positions, the "stage" area around the altar and on the organ loft.

Altar Perspective (0°)

Choir and Organ Loft Perspective (180°)