In 1853 Franz Josef I survived an assassination attempt when a knife-wielding Hungarian failed to find the emperor’s neck through his collar. The Votivkirche (Votive Church) was commissioned in thanks for his lucky escape; in stepped Heinrich von Ferstel with a twin-towered, mosaic-roofed neo-Gothic construction, completed in 1879.
The rather bleak interior is bedecked with frescos and bulbous chandeliers, and the tomb of Count Niklas Salm, one of the architects of the successful defence against the Turks in 1529, is in the Baptismal Chapel. The prize exhibit of a small church museum is the Antwerp Altar from 1460.
