St. Josef's – Jugendstil church

Plants and animals are popular motifs in St. Josef’s. The artist Hofstötter, who was responsible for the interior decoration of the church, was familiar with Ancient Egyptian art and, of course, with many of the depictions in the Bible. An entire zoo of animals, some more exotic, some less so, stems from these two sources. There is a particularly large number of animals gathered in the front section of the church. Let’s just take the example of the first section of the vault that comes after the apse: this accommodates a wolf, a lamb, a lion, and a bear. The depictions refer to the peaceful nature of Paradise, which the prophet Isaiah described thus: “The wolf will live with the lamb; the leopard will lie down with the young goat. The calf and the lion will graze together”. Although it is present in a completely different way now, there is also the desire today for all living creatures to live together in harmony. The following creatures are assembled in the subsequent section: a stag, a pelican, a peacock, and a phoenix. The pictures, reliefs, and sculptures which depict Bible scenes throughout the sanctuary show many plants and animals from the Middle East. The lion in the story of Samson, for example, is particularly striking. If you look up shortly before you walk under the gallery, you can see it in the right side aisle.

Aside from animals and plants as symbols and motifs, representations of nature have forged their way into the entrance of St. Josef’s in another way too: Jugendstil had a predilection for them as ornaments for emphasizing and underlining the mystical, secretive, splendid, and dignified character of the space. So there are fantasy plants and animals like fish, lizards, monkeys, and dogs in every nook and cranny that you would never expect to find here. God sleeps in the stone, He breathes in the plant, He dreams in the animal, and awakens in the human being.