Austria.
Eastern Orthodoxy is the second-largest Christian confession in Austria, represented by multiple canonical jurisdictions — Greek, Serbian, Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian and Antiochian — with Vienna as the spiritual and administrative centre.
Orthodoxy in
Austria.
A living tradition — its history, its faithful, its sacred places.
Although Austria is historically a Roman Catholic country, Eastern Orthodox Christianity has had a continuous presence on its soil for more than three centuries, and today it is the country's second-largest Christian tradition. The Orthodox faithful in Austria belong mostly to the diaspora of traditionally Orthodox nations — Serbs, Romanians, Greeks, Russians, Bulgarians, Arabs, Georgians and Ukrainians — organised under several canonical jurisdictions in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The arrival of Orthodoxy in Austria
Eastern Orthodox communities first took root in the Habsburg capital through Balkan merchants fleeing Ottoman rule. Serbian Orthodox metropolitan Isaija Đaković visited Vienna several times beginning in 1690 and died there in 1708, reflecting the early Serbian presence in the Habsburg lands. Greek merchant communities followed through the eighteenth century.
The decisive legal turning point came with Emperor Joseph II's Patent of Toleration of 1781, which, as part of the Josephinist reforms, extended religious freedom to non-Catholic Christians in the Habsburg crown lands, including the Eastern Orthodox. This allowed the open construction of Orthodox churches in Vienna and other imperial cities; the first Greek Orthodox church on the site of today's Holy Trinity Cathedral dates to 1787.
Modern legal status
After the First World War the organisation of Orthodox life in Austria was reshaped along ethnic-jurisdictional lines. The state's relationship with the Orthodox Church was codified in the Orthodoxengesetz (Orthodox Church Law) of 1967, which gives the canonical Orthodox jurisdictions the status of legally recognised religious communities alongside the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish bodies.
Jurisdictions today
There is no autocephalous Austrian Orthodox Church; pastoral care is provided by overlapping eparchies of the historic mother churches:
Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Austria and Exarchate of Hungary and Middle Europe (Ecumenical Patriarchate), the oldest and canonically senior jurisdiction, seated at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Vienna.
Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Austria and Switzerland, the largest Orthodox body in the country by faithful, seated in Vienna.
Diocese of Vienna and Austria of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).
Romanian Orthodox parishes under the Metropolis of Germany, Central and Northern Europe.
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (Parish of St Ivan Rilski, Vienna) and two parishes of the Antiochian Patriarchate (Vienna and Innsbruck).
These bishops form the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of Austria, established after the 2009 pan-Orthodox pre-conciliar conference at Chambésy, which coordinates common witness among all canonical jurisdictions.
Current situation
According to the 2021 survey by Statistics Austria, Orthodox Christians make up about 4.9% of the Austrian population, up from 2.2% in 2001, driven largely by migration from Serbia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Bulgaria. Vienna, Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck host the most active parishes, while smaller communities serve the growing Orthodox diaspora across the federal provinces.
Saints of
Austria.
1 venerated soul with ties to this land — fathers and mothers of the faith who are remembered here still.
Famous Orthodox churches and monasteries in Austria
The sacred architecture of Orthodox Austria — cathedrals, parishes, and the mountain monasteries that keep the lamps burning.
- Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral (Griechenkirche zur Heiligen Dreifaltigkeit), Vienna — Seat of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Austria since 1963 and of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Exarchate of Hungary and Middle Europe. The present building, funded by the Greek-Austrian philanthropist Simon Sinas and designed by Theophil Hansen, was inaugurated in 1858 on a site used by Greek Orthodox worshippers since 1787.
- Saint George Greek Orthodox Church, Vienna — The older of the two historic Greek parishes in Vienna's "Greek quarter" near Fleischmarkt, serving the Ottoman-subject Greek merchants' community from the late eighteenth century and still an active parish of the Metropolis of Austria.
- Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, Vienna — Consecrated in 1899 in the Erdberg / third district, built in Russian late-Byzantine style with five onion domes as the embassy church of Imperial Russia; today the cathedral of the Diocese of Vienna and Austria of the Moscow Patriarchate.
- Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Sava, Vienna — Serbian Orthodox parish church erected between 1890 and 1893 in the eighth district (Neudeggergasse), one of the principal churches of the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Austria and Switzerland, which today comprises more than thirty parishes.
- Romanian Orthodox Parish Church of the Holy Resurrection, Vienna — Founded in 1906, the first Romanian Orthodox parish in Vienna, a spiritual centre for the large Romanian diaspora in Austria under the Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of Germany, Central and Northern Europe.
- Parish of Saint Ivan Rilski, Vienna — The Bulgarian Orthodox parish in Austria, belonging to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church – Patriarchate of Bulgaria, serving the Bulgarian Orthodox faithful in the country.
Orthodoxy
kept here.
The shape of the faith as it is lived and prayed across Austria today.
Orthodoxy in Austria is overwhelmingly a diaspora Orthodoxy. It is organised not as a single national church but as a mosaic of canonical eparchies of the historic autocephalous churches, all in communion with one another and with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Austria, under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, enjoys canonical precedence, while the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy is numerically the largest, reflecting the substantial Serbian population settled in Austria since the Ottoman period and the late twentieth-century Yugoslav wars.
Liturgical life reflects the ethnic composition of each parish. Services are celebrated in Greek, Church Slavonic, Serbian, Romanian, Arabic, Bulgarian and increasingly in German, especially in parishes that welcome converts and the second and third generations of Orthodox families. Most jurisdictions follow the Revised Julian (New) Calendar for fixed feasts, while the Russian and Serbian Churches retain the Old (Julian) Calendar; Pascha is celebrated throughout on the common Orthodox date.
Church–state relations are governed by the Orthodoxengesetz of 1967, which recognises the Orthodox Church as a legally constituted religious community. This status gives the Orthodox eparchies access to public religious instruction in schools, pastoral care in prisons, hospitals and the armed forces, and the civil recognition of their rites and clergy.
Austria is also home to the Pro Oriente Foundation, based in Vienna, which has since 1964 been one of the most important centres of dialogue between the Roman Catholic and the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches in Europe, reflecting Vienna's historic role as a meeting place between Western and Eastern Christianity.
Asked
of this land.
Frequently asked questions about Orthodoxy in Austria
How many Orthodox Christians live in Austria?
According to the 2021 survey by Statistics Austria, around 4.9% of the Austrian population identify as Orthodox Christians — roughly 440,000 people — making Orthodoxy the second-largest Christian confession in the country after Roman Catholicism.
Is there an Austrian Orthodox Church?
No. There is no autocephalous or autonomous Austrian Orthodox Church. The Orthodox faithful in Austria are organised under eparchies of the historic mother churches — chiefly the Ecumenical Patriarchate (Greek Metropolis of Austria), the Serbian, Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian and Antiochian Patriarchates — all in canonical communion.
Which is the oldest Orthodox jurisdiction in Austria?
The Greek Orthodox community in Vienna is the oldest, tracing its church life back to 1787, when the first Greek church was built following Emperor Joseph II's Patent of Toleration of 1781. Today it is the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Austria, under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, with its cathedral at Holy Trinity in Vienna.
Is the Orthodox Church legally recognised in Austria?
Yes. The Orthodox Church was given full legal recognition as a religious community by the Orthodoxengesetz (Orthodox Church Law) of 1967, placing it alongside the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish communities in Austrian public law.
What languages are used in Austrian Orthodox services?
Liturgies are celebrated in the language of each parish's mother church — Greek, Church Slavonic, Serbian, Romanian, Arabic and Bulgarian — with German increasingly used, especially for pastoral work with youth, converts and mixed families.
Are Oriental Orthodox (Coptic, Armenian, Syriac) churches the same as Eastern Orthodox in Austria?
No. The Oriental Orthodox communities in Austria (Armenian Apostolic, Coptic, Syriac and Ethiopian) form a separate communion and are not in sacramental unity with the Eastern Orthodox Church represented by the Greek, Serbian, Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian and Antiochian jurisdictions covered here.