This is an archive copy. For the new site, visit www.austriamission.com/

Timeline of events in the history
of the Church in Austria.

Date Event
July 1841 Orson Hyde passes through Vienna
on his way to dedicate Palestine.
Dec. 1841 - Jan. 1842 Orson Hyde's ship is quarantined
as he returns home.
He spends the time in Trieste and Vienna,
encouraging the Jewish people
to return to Palestine.
Jan. 18, 1865 Elders Orson Pratt and William W. Ritter
arrive in Austria, soon driven out.
Jan. 22, 1870 First Austrian, Joseph A. Oheim,
baptized in Munich, Germany by Karl G. Maeser.
Oct. 1883 Elders Thomas Biesinger and Paul E. B. Hammer
set apart in conference in SLC as missionaries to Austria.
Oct. 16, 1883 Elders Thomas Biesinger and Paul E. B. Hammer
leave SLC.
Nov. 13, 1883 Elders Thomas Biesinger and Paul E. B. Hammer
arrive in Bern, Switzerland and report for duty
to the president of the Swiss and German Mission.
Nov. 1883 Elders Thomas Biesinger and Paul E. B. Hammer
split up so Elder Biesinger can visit his parents
in Wurtemberg, Germany.
Nov. 25, 1883 First convert, Paul Haslinger,
baptized in Lemberg, Austria by Elder Hammer.
Nov. 25, 1883 Elder Biesinger arrives in Vienna
where he is supposed to meet Elder Hammer.
Dec. 3, 1883 Elders Thomas Biesinger and Paul E. B. Hammer
meet in Vienna.
Jan. 6, 1884 A Sunday. Elders Biesinger and Hammer
hold their first meeting in the home
of Widow Mahrburg of Stiftgasse.
Six persons besides the Elders were present.
Feb. 2, 1884 P. Cholewa, a Pole, and Josephine Jelenik, an Austrian,
are baptized in Vienna, in the Simmering Canal.
Feb. 25, 1884 Elder Biesinger goes to Prague.
Elder Hammer remains in Vienna for a time, then goes to
Hirchberg, Silesia, where he gets smallpox.
On his recovery, he returns to Bern to recuperate.
March 30, 1884 Elder Biesinger is arrested in Prague,
spends 68 days in jail.
June 21, 1884 After his release, Elder Biesinger baptizes
Anton Yost, one of the police officials
who had accused him.
Feb. 18, 1885 Elder Biesinger and his new companion,
Elder James E. Jennings,go to Budapest, Hungary
in an attempt to continue missionary work.
April 1885 Elders Biesinger and Jennings must return to Germany
due to persecution.
April 27, 1900 Johann Huber is baptized near Haag am Hausruck.
Church meetings are held in Huber's milk barn.
1901 Branch established in Haag am Hausruck
with seven members.
1909 Second branch established in Vienna.
1909 Missionary work is stopped by Government
restrictions.
1914 Vienna branch dissolved by government,
all property is confiscated.
1914 Missionaries withdrawn from Austria
(and all of Europe) due to impending war.
WWI Members hold secret meetings in their homes.
While the brethren of the branch are in the army,
Sister Mathilde Either takes charge of the branch.
post-WWI After WWI, Church grows in Austria
(now separate from Hungary)
due to greater religious freedom.
by 1922 Branches in Vienna, Linz,
Haag am Hausruck, and Salzburg.
1923 Elder Biesinger, now 80 years old,
returns to Vienna as a missionary
in the Austrian Mission.
1924 At year's end, Austria had:
5 missionaries
14 baptisms
186 members
Aug. 23, 1925 German-Austrian Mission opened.
1936 A number of LDS publications were forbidden in Austria.
Fewer than 100 members were in Austria.
Jan. 1, 1938 Swiss-Austrian Mission created.
1938 Hitler's army enters Austria.
Eight missionaries of the Swiss-Austrian mission
are serving in the Austrian district at the time.
Summer 1939 Missionaries withdrawn during WWII,
and Austrian district closed,
but members continue work.
1946 Restrictions lifted, missionaries return.
1946 Swiss Austria Mission arranged to include Austria:
Austrian District established by
Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve.
1955 Church officially recognized in Austria.
1960 Austrian Mission organized.
Fall 1960 Mission Home purchased in Vienna.
1961 431 people baptized in Austria.
1963 The Böcklingstraße chapel is Vienna is completed.
1965 President Ezra Taft Benson
of the Quorum of the Twelve
tours the mission.
1965 Centennial of Church in Austria celebrated
on the Huber dairy farm.
1965 Chapel in Haag am Hausruck is built.
1968 Chapel in Haag am Hausruck is completed.
June 1969 Elders Vaughn A. Mason and Mitchell
Daniel Wilson, serving in the Austrian Mission, killed
in an automobile accident in the rain near Innsbruck.
Aug. 7, 1969 Chapel in Graz is completed,
dedicated by Ezra Taft Benson.
1970 Chapel in Klagenfurt is completed.
1970 Chapel in Linz is completed.
June 10, 1970 Austrian Mission becomes the Austria Mission.
June 20, 1970 Austria Mission becomes the Austria Vienna Mission.
1972 2,680 members in Austria.
1973 The Silbergasse chapel in Vienna is completed.
April 27, 1975 The Vienna I chapel is dedicated
by President Neil D. Schaerrer.
1979 2,760 members in Austria.
Apr. 20, 1980 Vienna Austria Stake created,
President Benson presides,
Johann A. Wondra called as first Stake President.
1982 Chapel in Wels is completed.
1983 The Gregorygasse chapel in Vienna is completed.
July 1, 1987 Mission split to create Austria Vienna East
to cover the Eastern block countries.
Oct. 1988 Chapel in Wiener Neustadt completed.
1990 3,700 members in Austria.
Oct. 1992 Austria receives its first live satellite
transmissions of General Conference.
1995 4,000 members in Austria.
July 1, 1996 Mission split to create Austria Vienna South.
Jan. 19, 1997 Second stake,
Salzburg Austria Stake, is created.
July 1, 2001 Austria Vienna Mission
is merged with the Munich, Germany Mission
about 2001 Steyr branch is closed.
about Dec. 2002 Villach branch is merged with the Klagenfurt branch.

Lise (Moyes) Christiansen
avmission@gmail.com