In 1736/37 a little chapel, named after St. Johannes Nepomuk, was built under the assignment of Hofkriegsrat (comparable to a Pivy Counsillor in GB, but responsible for waraffairs) Matth�us Lydl v. Schwanau. In 1783 Gersthof was promoted to the status of a parish by emperor Josef II. of Austria, but the 7-year long war and inflation lead to financial problems.
In the 19th century the people of Gersthof were able to save their parish.
In the 2nd half of that century, during the time of the so called "cottage-fashion" the population of Gersthof increased tremendously, so that the chapel became to small.
In 1885 a socienty for the construction of a new church was ounded and 2 years later enough money was raised to start construction. The cornerstone ceremony took place on September 11th 1887.
The church was partly built on the space of the former cemetry of Gersthof and the rest of the space was presented on the one hand by the community and on the other by landowner Adalbert Dub.
As new patron for the parish St. Leopold was chosen. The consecration of the church took place on November 15th 1891 and since 1899 the church is the legal church of the parish of Gersthof.
In 1930 a community-center was founded; The choir of Gersthof was able to afford the purchase of a new organ by singing in concerts.
Between 1939 ans 1945 parishactivities were restricted and the priest�s house was occupied, but there was a resistance against the nazis motivated by religious belief. Chaplain Dr. Heinrich Maier was a member of the Maier-Messner-resisteance group. On March 28th 1945 he was arrested by the nazis during service. He died on May 22nd, the last day of execution in the Wiener Landesgericht.
After the 2nd World War parish life started again. A kindergarden was founded and ecumenical contacts were established.
(T. Rauch, 34. Jhrgang, 3. Heft, 1999)