St. Francis of Assisi Church (Mexikokirche)

The Mexico Church, officially the Parish Church of St. Francis of Assisi, is a Roman Catholic church in the 2nd district of Vienna, Leopoldstadt. It is located on Mexico Square near the Reichsbrücke and is a striking building in the neo-Gothic style. The foundation stone was laid on June 10, 1900 by Prince Archbishop Cardinal Anton Josef Gruscha in the presence of the Emperor and more than 100,000 people. The church was built to mark the 50th anniversary of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I. It is therefore also known as the Emperor's Jubilee Church.The square on which the church stands, and hence the colloquial name Mexico Church, was renamed "Mexico Square" in 1956 in gratitude for Mexico's protest against the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. Mexico was the only country in the world that did not recognize the annexation of Austria by Hitler's Germany in 1938 and protested against it in writing to the League of Nations through the diplomat Isidro Fabela (Isidro Fabela Promenade).