A balcony in Verona? Vienna has more love and a Taj Mahal. The Faniteum in Ober St. Veit (Hanschweg) is the Taj Mahal of Vienna.
Marble from Italy, choir stalls from Brittany, reliefs from Spain, a baptistry from the 17th century. What love is being bemoaned here? The love of count Karl Lanckoronski und Franziska Xaveria of Attems-Heiligenkreuz. A jubilant love that began in 1892 and was destroyed only one year later after the birth of their son Anton. The place where you can find the Faniteum today was planned to be the family home. But after the birth of the son Franziska died and Karl decided to build a mausoleum for his wife. Architect was Emanuel La Roche. Due to Viennese regulations she can’t be buried there. Nevertheless the count errects the building to commemorate her and to help to ease social problems. One part of the building is the mausoleum without a burial site and another part is the sanatorium for poor girls who just left hospital.
Today you can find there the convent of Saint Josef of the Bare-Footed Carmelites. When you visit a mass you can see the marble relief with count Karl holding his newborn son in his arm and the hand of his dying wife.
More about the Faniteum, in German but with pictures.
