Plaques commemorating the Protestant martyr Caspar Tauber and Emperor Joseph II are attached to the walls.

It was founded by Elisabeth of Austria, daughter of Emperor Maximilian II and widow of King Charles IX of France.

The queen dowager established the monastery probably as an atonement for the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and spent her final years there.

The same year, both a Lutheran and a Reformed congregation were able to constitute themselves in Vienna due to the Patent of Toleration of 1781.

The other parts of the premises were acquired by the banker Johann von Fries who built the Palais Pallavicini there.

In the 19th century, the composers Franz Lachner and Hermann Graedener were employed as organists in the Lutheran City Church and the distinguished piano maker Johann Andreas Streicher released a new service hymnal.

The Lutheran City Church had to be rebuilt again in 1907 due to more stringent fire regulations after the Ringtheaterbrand.

In World War II, the Lutheran City Church suffered severe damage.