Karlsküche

For Vienna’s poorest:

A food distribution centre for people in need
Every Sunday, 11 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.

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Vienna’s Karlskirche is a first-class architectural monument and therefore a magnet for visitors from all over the world. After Vienna was struck by a terrible plague in 1713, Emperor Charles VI publicly vowed in St. Stephen’s Cathedral to build a votive church in honour of his namesake Charles Borromeo, who had become one of the patron saints of the Catholic Church through his exemplary and self-sacrificing work for the plague victims in his episcopal city of Milan. In 1733, St. Charles’s Church was entrusted to the Order of the Holy Cross with the Red Star, based in Prague. An essential condition was that the order, as a charitable community, should devote itself especially to the needy and suffering.

The Timeline

The 20th century brought increasingly difficult times for the Order of the Holy Cross. It narrowly escaped complete abolition by the communist regime in what was then Czechoslovakia and, due to its limited ability to act, even had to temporarily relinquish its centuries-old spiritual care of St. Charles’ Church. As a result, the original charitable idea at St. Charles’s was effectively forgotten.

At the beginning of the 2000s, the Order was finally able to return to St. Karl. Since then, it has been committed to making St. Charles’ Church a place of enhanced spiritual life with a wide range of pastoral services. In doing so, special consideration is given to the location and historical significance of the church.

As head of the Austrian province of the order and rector of St. Charles’s Church since autumn 2020, Dr. Marek Pučalík O.Cr. is striving to return to the original mission of his order at St. Charles Borromeo. This was kicked off in November 2021 with the event ‘We are Fratello’, which marked the World Day of the Poor proclaimed by Pope Francis in 2016.

Following the lifting of most coronavirus restrictions, the Karlsküche was officially opened on 11 September 2022. The food is mainly provided by sponsors from Vienna’s top restaurants.