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Draft:White Cross in Oberlaa

Coordinates: 48°08′22″N 16°23′32″E / 48.1395199°N 16.3923158°E / 48.1395199; 16.3923158
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White Cross

The White Cross is a statue in the 10th district of Vienna, Favoriten, located in the area of Oberlaa. It stands at the corner of Oberlaaer Straße 122 and Grundäckergasse 55. This object is registered in the digital cultural property database of the City of Vienna.

Construction and legend

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The White Cross is a free-standing column topped with a Mater Dolorosa sculpture. For a long time, a white cross with a Christ figure stood on the pedestal. The cross was allegedly erected by the residents of Oberlaa during their resettlement after the Second Siege of Vienna.

It is not precisely known when the cross was replaced by the statue.

The local chronicle of Oberlaa notes:

"When during the Rogation days in Oberlaa, in the eventful year of 1809, the procession moved from the parish church towards Rothneusiedl, an unusual sight greeted the residents of Oberlaa: as far as the eye could see, the French invading army, all in blue, approached. The school children, unaware of the significance of the event, prayed the litany; they were mocked by the soldiers, and the commanding officer leading this troop was prompted to deliver a sharp blow with his saber to the stone image of the sorrowful mother. The procession came to a sudden end."
"After the Battle of Aspern, on Pentecost Sunday, May 21, 1809, the same officer, with his right hand shot off, was brought to Oberlaa. He was cared for by the farmer Josef Stöger and at the parish house but died the next day after repenting his deed." (slightly abridged)

Whether this account is a legend is uncertain.

The statue was indeed damaged in 1809 and rebuilt in 1816 by the local judge Josef Kindl. In 1887, it was toppled and broken during an act of vandalism, but the municipal council restored the cross in the same year. During a renovation in 1984, the statue of the Mother of God replaced the cross on the pedestal once more. The original White Cross is now housed in the District Museum of Favoriten.[1]

Literature

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Werner Schubert: Favoriten. Verlag Bezirksmuseum Favoriten, 1992; pp. 172–174.

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References

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  1. ^ "Weißes Kreuz (10, Oberlaaer Straße)". Wien Geschichte Wiki (in German). Retrieved 22 July 2024.

48°08′22″N 16°23′32″E / 48.1395199°N 16.3923158°E / 48.1395199; 16.3923158