On February 18, 1853, an assassination attempt by a Hungarian national on King Franz Joseph took place. His Royal Highness was out for one of his regular walks when Janos Lebenyi jumped him from behind and stabbed him. Luckily, the King had on a coat with a heavy collar, and it afforded him enough protection to survive. Still, he suffered a large wound in the incident. The police soon showed up and arrested Lebenyi. He was put to death in relatively short order, although the King did grant Lebenyi's mother a small pension as a good-will gesture.
Meanwhile, Maxilian - the King's brother - was so happy that Franz didn't died that he started to raise money to build a church on the site of the attack. Cash came in from people through Europe. A contest was held, and construction started in 1856. The building was downsized a little on the way, but progress continued. It took until 1879 to open the impressive structure.
It's nice inside too.
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