The First Presidency has set a groundbreaking date for the Vienna Austria Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
On Saturday, Oct. 17, ground will be broken for the Church’s first temple in the country. Elder Michael Cziesla — a General Authority Seventy and member of the Church’s Europe Central Area presidency — will preside over the ceremony.
Information about the upcoming groundbreaking was published Aug. 24 on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The Vienna temple and Church in Austria
On April 4, 2021, then-Church President Russell M. Nelson announced Austria’s first temple, for its capital city, Vienna.
It was one of 20 temple locations he identified in April 2021 general conference, alongside two other temples for Europe — in Brussels, Belgium, and Oslo, Norway — both of which will also be the first in each nation.
As previously announced, the Vienna temple is planned as a multistory building of approximately 15,300 square feet. It will be built on a 0.8-acre site at Silbergasse 2, Vienna, Austria.
Of Europe’s 26 temples in various stages of operation, construction or planning, three are in the construction phase: the Birmingham England Temple (since March 2025), Budapest Hungary Temple (June 2025) and Brussels Belgium Temple (November 2025).
The restored gospel was first preached in Austria in 1865, but Church growth was sporadic because of legal restrictions and conflicts, so the missionaries left later that year. In September 1955, Austria granted official government recognition to the Church.
The country’s first stake was organized in Vienna in 1980. A second was organized in Salzburg in 1997.
Today, Austria is home to more than 4,700 members of the Church, in 17 wards and branches.
