Stephansdom

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Stephansdom (west view)
East view with the Albertine choir and the unfinished north tower

The St. Stephen's Cathedral (actually Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of St. Stephen and all the saints ) at Vienna Stephansplatz ( Inner City District ) since 1365 cathedral (seat of the cathedral chapter), since 1469/1479 cathedral ( bishopric ) and since 1723 Metropolitan Church of the Archbishop of Vienna . The by the Viennese also short Steffl called Roman Catholic Cathedral is considered landmark of Vienna and is sometimes referred to as Austrian national shrine called. It is named after St. Stephen , who is considered the first Christian martyr. The second patronage is All Saints' Day.

The structure is 107 meters long and 34 meters wide. The cathedral is one of the most important Gothic buildings in Austria . Parts of the late Romanesque predecessor building from 1230/40 to 1263 are still preserved and form the west facade, flanked by the two heather towers , which are around 65 meters high. St. Stephen's Cathedral has a total of four towers: the tallest at 136.4 meters is the south tower, the north tower was not completed and is only 68 meters high. In the former Austria-Hungary , no church was allowed to be built higher than the south tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral. For example, the Cathedral of the Conception of Mary in Linz was built two meters lower.

The south tower is an architectural masterpiece of the time; despite its remarkable height, the foundation is less than four meters deep. In the south tower there are a total of 13 bells, eleven of which form the main bell of St. Stephen's Cathedral. The Pummerin , the third largest free-swinging church bell in Europe, has been in the north tower since 1957 under a tower dome from the Renaissance period.

history

The building history of the cathedral in plan (green: the giant gate; red: Romanesque cathedral, demolished in 1430; pink: Albertine choir; blue: the Gothic nave)
Christ with John and other saints, giant gate around 1240

The area, which was later occupied by St. Stephen's Cathedral, lay east of the Roman legion camp Vindobona in the area of ​​the canabae legiones , the suburb of the camp. The camp was surrounded by buildings and streets from the first to the third centuries, but these were replaced by graves and burial structures in the third and fourth centuries. In the area of Stock-im-Eisen-Platz , grave finds have been made again and again since 1690.

The beginnings of the cathedral go back to the year 1137, from which the exchange contract of Mautern between Margrave Leopold IV of Austria and Bishop Reginmar of Passau has been handed down. Goods, but also parish rights, were exchanged in order to enable the bishop to build a church outside of the city at that time, which was to be consecrated to St. Stephen , the patron saint of the Episcopal Church of Passau. The parish rights of the already existing church of St. Peter should fall under the jurisdiction of the new Viennese pastor. The other churches in what was then Vienna (next to the Maria am Gestade church ), the Ruprechtskirche and the Peterskirche , were named after Salzburg saints; the patronage of the church was therefore a political signal. The first church was completed in 1147 and consecrated in the same year around or just before Pentecost (June 8, 1147) by the Passau bishop Reginbert von Hagenau (patronage after the mother church Passau), the Passau cleric Eberger from the entourage of the bishop is named as the first pastor . The church was completely oversized for the city at that time - so there could have been efforts to turn it into a bishop's church. The church is east of the sunrise on December 26, 1137.

From 1230 to 1245, another late Romanesque building was built under Duke Friedrich II the Arguable of Austria, the west facade of which is still preserved. It consists of the two pagan towers and the giant gate between them . The origin of both names is not entirely clear. Pagan towers perhaps comes from the stones that came from ancient Roman ruins, possibly also from the two representations of the non-Christian fertility symbols phallus and vulva, which crown the two dazzling columns in the west wall below the towers. According to legend, the name giant gate goes back to a huge mammoth bone hung above the gate or a giant helping with the construction; In fact, the name is likely to go back to the Middle High German word risen (to sink, to fall) and to refer to the funnel shape of the portal. Above the gate was a ducal gallery , similar to the Kaiserstuhl of Charlemagne in Aachen and the western galleries of the imperial cathedral.

After a fire in 1258, the building was completed under the new sovereign Ottokar II. Přemysl and re-consecrated in 1263 under pastor Gerhard. The upper floors of the Heidentürme were only built afterwards. The two towers are connected by a late Gothic Schwibbogen , which has the task of supporting the two towers against each other. Settlements and shifts in the area of ​​the westwork are prevented by this medieval rehabilitation measure. The Schwibbogen is usually hidden by the organ, but was visible during the organ renovation in 2018. In 1276 a fire broke out again, which damaged the choir, but did not affect the western facade and the western gallery or the adjoining rooms in the heath towers.

The Gothic building period began under the Habsburgs , dukes of Austria since 1282 . Under the Dukes Albrecht I and Albrecht II of Austria, not only were the fire damage removed, but an enlarged Gothic style choir was built between 1304 and 1340 , which is named after them as the Albertine Choir . The choir was consecrated on April 23, 1340, and the hall choir was largely completed. After 1340 the choir could already be used for liturgical acts, as the documents on the liturgy, the rood screen and the altars show.

The reign of Duke Rudolf IV , known as “the founder”, was significant for the church: On April 7, 1359 he laid the foundation stone for the south tower and the Gothic extension of the church - one source speaks specifically of the choir, and accordingly for the church a re-consecration is documented in 1365. With the intention of upgrading the main church of his royal seat, Rudolf - who had claimed the title of "Palatinate Duke" since 1358/59 - relocated the collegiate monastery that he had built in the All Saints' Chapel in the Hofburg in Vienna in 1365 as the "Cathedral Chapter" in St. Stephen's Church, awarded its provost the title of "Arch Chancellor of Austria" and appointed him chancellor (rector) of the new university in Vienna . Since then, the Patronage of All Saints , which applies to the choir, has been the cathedral's second patronage. The important collection of relics and the founding of the duke's crypt also go back to Rudolf IV. When Rudolf died unexpectedly in 1365, he was buried in the choir. The building of the two western nave chapels as well as the two prince portals that are obviously connected to them also go back to Rudolf .

Rudolf's most important construction project on St. Stephen's Cathedral was the start of construction on the southern high tower, even if little more than parts of the Katharinenkapelle, consecrated in 1391, were carried out in the seven years of his rule. The question of who was responsible for the conception and planning of the Gothic building is open. It was not until 1368 that a Magister operum ad St. Stephanum (master builder of St. Stephan) named Seyfried was mentioned for the first time . A major influence on the planning was attributed to the Duke master builder Michael Knab in older research , but his activity as a Viennese cathedral master builder can be specifically excluded.

By 1407 the base of the tower had progressed to the height of the church roof when decisive corrections were made because, as Thomas Ebendorfer reports, “master builders experienced in art and now famous in the construction of the tower mentioned had deviated so much from the original plan that everything that had been costly built on it in several years has, conversely, been removed back to where the first builder left it ”. This obviously refers to the former Prague cathedral builder Wenzel Parler , who was a cathedral builder in Vienna from 1403 to 1404. The tower was then completed with modifications in 1433 by Peter and Hans von Prachatitz , whereby this tower with 136 meters was the highest tower in Europe until the completion of the Strasbourg cathedral tower in 1439.

Immediately after the tower substructure, the construction of the Gothic nave, decorated with rich tracery forms, began on its south side and advanced until 1430 to such an extent that the last remnants of the early Gothic nave that stood in the way of expansion could be demolished. Under cathedral master builder Mathes Helbling , the western part of the north wall was completed by 1440 (inscription on the cornice), after which the construction of the free pillars of the hall church began. Under Hans Puchsbaum , the cathedral long house was expanded into a relay hall and the vaulting was also prepared, which in its rich shape with arched ribs was only completed under his successor Laurenz Spenning . The only one of the tracery gable of the exterior building was that of Emperor Friedrich III. referring Friedrichsgiebel erected over the Südwestjoch. A (now lost) inscription plaque from 1474 marked the completion date of the church building, albeit without the north tower, which had just begun. Shortly before, in 1469, Vienna had also been elevated to a diocese and thus St. Stephen's Cathedral to a cathedral , so that the collegiate monastery founded by Rudolf IV became a cathedral chapter . During this time, St. Stephen's Cathedral was also used for public speeches in front of the Viennese community, such as Archduke Albrecht VI. shows.

In 1450 Friedrich III. the foundation stone for the north tower (formerly also incorrectly called the Albertine Tower ) and the foundation of the north tower was lined up under the cathedral master builder Hans Puchsbaum, whereby the wine of this year classified as inedible was used as a binding agent by imperial order. After a long interruption caused by the political tensions between the city and the emperor, however, the actual construction of the north tower according to new plans did not begin until 1467 under cathedral builder Laurenz Spenning. Of the two alternative tower plans presented by him, the first represented a revision of the existing high tower, the second a new plan about 20 meters higher, which should also exceed the tower construction projects of the Strasbourg and Ulm Minster . Under him the portal floor was completed by 1477, under his successor Simon Achleitner the double-window floor, under Jörg Kling and Jörg Öchsl the subsequent free floor, until 1513 after almost half a century of construction work was stopped. The decision to complete the tower was made in 1523, but no longer implemented. The north tower could have been completed at the same speed around 1560, but the warlike circumstances of the time, which made the renovation of the fortifications necessary, prevented further construction. 1578 a simple Glock Tight lap with a tower was built on the stump Renaissance - hood set, according to the architect Hans Saphoy Saphoy'sche hood is.

Bird's eye view of St. Stephen's Cathedral from the north by Jacob Hoefnagel (1609). The Magdalenenkapelle, the Leihbahr, Messner and Cantorhaus as well as the Heiltumstuhl can be seen on the right .
Rudolf von Alt : St. Stephen's Cathedral from Stock-im-Eisen-Platz (1832)

From 1511 to 1515 the sculptor and builder Anton Pilgram took over the management of the Bauhütte , he completed the organ base and was involved in the execution of the cathedral pulpit , among other things , the window viewer there was traditionally taken for his self-portrait . Under Hans Herstorffer , who worked as master builder for the cathedral from 1637 to 1650, the interior decoration was changed to Baroque style in 1647 , especially the high altar by the sculptor Johann Jacob Pock and his brother, the painter Tobias Pock , from this period. During the Turkish siege in 1683 , the cathedral was damaged by Turkish cannon balls. The big bell (the Pummerin ) was then cast from the besiegers' cannons . In 1713, right at the beginning of the term of office of cathedral builder Johann Carl Trumler , Emperor Karl VI. in the cathedral the pledge to found a church when the plague ends. Construction of the Karlskirche began around three years later .

Since the renovations in the 19th century, the imperial eagle of the Austrian Empire has been laid out in colorful bricks on the southern roof of St. Stephen's Cathedral . In the breastplate of this eagle is the monogram of Emperor Franz I. With the reconstruction of the roof structure after the fire at the end of the Second World War, the Austrian federal eagle , which, however, heraldically looks in the wrong direction, and the Viennese eagle were placed on the north side of the roof in the same way Coat of arms attached.

St. Stephen's Cathedral survived the bombing raids during the Second World War and the fighting in the urban area without major damage. When a white flag was hoisted from the tower on April 10, 1945, the then Wehrmacht captain Gerhard Klinkicht (* 1915, † March 14, 2000 in Bavaria) received the order from Commander Dietrich to “... the cathedral first with 100 grenades in rubble and ashes to lay. If that is not enough, you have to continue shooting until it is completely destroyed. ”Gerhard Klinkicht did not obey this order, a plaque on the cathedral commemorates him.

On the night of April 12, 1945, the roof structure and the bell tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral burned out completely. While afterwards the story spread for decades that “the Russians” had set fire to the cathedral, as well as that it had been German shelling, eyewitness reports know that the fire spread from surrounding buildings to the cathedral, where looters had set fire . Due to the ongoing fighting in the city , no effective fire fighting work was possible. In this major fire, the Pummerin fell from the bell cage and smashed to the ground. The valuable Walcker organ from 1886 was destroyed by the collapse of the burning roof above the west gallery.

The reconstruction of St. Stephen's Cathedral, which was financed by numerous donations from the population (see St. Stephen's Groschen ), began immediately after the end of the war. The roof structure was completed in 1950. The festive reopening took place in 1952 when the newly cast Pummerin moved in. A memorial plaque inside reminds of the donations from all federal states, on which it says:

"The one who calls you into this house of God, THE BELL, donated the State of Upper Austria, That opens up the Cathedral to you, THE GATE, the State of Styria, That carries your step, THE STONE FLOOR, the State of Lower Austria, In which you kneel in prayer, THE BANK, the state of Vorarlberg, through which the light of the sky wells, THE WINDOWS, the state of Tyrol, which shine in peaceful light, THE CHANDELIER, the state of Carinthia, where you receive the body of the Lord, THE COMMUNION BANK, the Burgenland, in front of which the soul is inclines in devotion, THE TABERNAKEL, the state of Salzburg, which protects the holiest place in the country, THE DACH, donated the city of Vienna in association with many helpful hands. "

The outer

South tower

Elevation drawing of the south tower (1825/26) - still with a tower clock

As the main tower, the south tower is 136.4 meters high and has a square floor plan , which is gradually transformed into an octagon through a sophisticated arrangement of gables. Twelve fial turrets tower above the top . It is open to the public up to a height of 72 meters, where the so-called Türmerstube is located. Climbing the top of the tower is reserved exclusively for employees of the cathedral building office. The cathedral builder himself abseils down from the top of the tower at least once a year in order to check the structure of the building.

The southern high tower of St. Stephan can be considered one of the most monumental solutions that were completed in the Middle Ages. It is not connected to the church building (as in the Cologne Cathedral as a two-tower facade , in the Ulm Minster as a western tower or in the Milan Cathedral as a crossing tower ) in order to culminate its structural dimensions in a central tower, but is added to the side as an additional element. The special position of the Vienna Tower is still made clear today by the fact that its northern counterpart was only partially implemented and therefore does not contribute to the overall appearance of the building, without the impression of being unfinished. The top of the tower is now formed by a double cross ( archbishop's cross ) carried by a double-headed eagle . Originally, the spire had a crown that represented the sun and moon (for spiritual and worldly power). After the Turkish siege in 1529 , Viennese citizens asked for these symbols to be replaced in 1530, as they were too reminiscent of the Turkish symbols (star and crescent). However, an exchange only took place on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (September 14th) 1686.

The total duration of the almost seventy-five year construction period of the tower, which makes plan changes in the meantime probable, is determined by the traditional key dates, which indicate the laying of the foundation stone on July 12, 1359 by Duke Rudolf IV and his wife Catherine of Luxembourg and the relocation of the final finial for 1433 .

In between there is a change of plan, which first brought about the introduction of the double- storey window and then its reduction. In the first conception, this was raised significantly above the eaves height , but was then reduced again to just above the window crown, so that the wall decoration with pinnacle canopies for the statues provided here was lost. The entire tower area above the eaves height of the church was built entirely according to the concept of Peter von Prachatitz and did not represent a return to an alleged initial plan. But even here, further plan corrections can be found between the individual storey sections, especially in the transition to the helmet area coincide with the traditional change of master craftsman from Peter to Hans von Prachatitz.

The decisive change in plan between the substructure and the open- plan area also affected the use of the tower as a symbol of community. Started by Rudolf IV and continued by his brothers, the tower was intended to serve exclusively as a commemorative monument to the founder, but when it was taken over by the city at the beginning of the 15th century, it no longer stood for particular interests , but for the cohesion of all groups of the Society under the Habsburg crown . At the same time as the southern high tower of Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral remained unfinished due to the Hussite unrest in Bohemia , a tower was completed in Vienna with ever increasing demands. With its dominant position, the completed tower made it unmistakably clear that Vienna had in the meantime replaced Prague in architectural terms, but was also ready to take over its function as “the empire's houptstat”.

The south tower had a mechanical clock since the beginning of the 15th century. The south tower has been without a tower clock since 1861, after it was removed without replacement in the course of the tower restoration.

Vertical section of
the inclined spire, published in 1843
St. Stephen's Cathedral in 1861 with the tip of the south tower removed

In the years 1839–1842, the top 17 meters of the dilapidated top of the south tower, which leaned to the north, was removed by Paul Sprenger ; the stone ornaments were attached to an iron core. However, the iron did not prove to be rust-resistant, so that a number of stones broke due to rust bursting. From 1850 onwards, master builder Leopold Ernst used stone dowels cast with cement and "replaced one mistake with two others", since driving the cement also led to serious damage. That is why in 1861 the top 40 meters were removed by Leopold Ernst and rebuilt as true to the original as possible from 1862 to 1864 by Friedrich von Schmidt, who was appointed cathedral builder in 1863, using medieval stone technology. Several phases of this process can be seen in watercolors by Rudolf von Alt .

Schmidt led the restoration of the cathedral for decades, with "improving" interventions in the sense of neo-Gothic and Viollet-le-Ducs (for example in the gable area of ​​the south window of the cathedral). On August 18, 1864, the emperor's birthday , a new cross and an eagle weighing three hundred pounds were placed on the completed spire as part of the tower renovation .

Since April 2014, the parameters of the lightning strikes on the two lightning rods have been recorded by sensors and are to be scientifically evaluated by the Austria-wide ALDIS project .

In 2014, a portrait bust of the entrepreneur Carl Manner was installed in the tracery of the west facade of the south tower as a thank you for the decades of support of the Dom Bauhütte . For more than 40 years, an employee of the Bauhütte worked in overalls in the company colors at the expense of Manner am Dom. This bust looks towards the Manner factory in Hernals.

North tower

With the north tower the cathedral was to be completed in its external appearance. Construction work on this tower began in 1467 and lasted until 1511. However, due to economic difficulties, religious turmoil - Vienna had become a Protestant city around 1520, while the Lower Austrian estates took action against the Protestants and Lutheran services were banned in the town houses - and not continued because of the approaching Turkish threat, so that the north tower remained unfinished.

Under Hans Saphoy von Salmansweiler († 1578 in Vienna), who was the master builder of St. Stephen's Cathedral from 1556 to 1578 , there were considerations to expand the stone stump, but these were dropped again. It remained with the erection of a tower roof in the style of the Renaissance by the brothers Hans and Caspar Saphoy. It is a small octagonal bell tower, the so-called "Saphoysche" or " Welsche Haube ", on the top of which is enthroned the double-headed eagle of the House of Austria , which is why the north tower is also called the " eagle tower". The north tower is 68.3 meters high.

Legends about the unfinished north tower

There are a number of stories and legends that try to explain the incompletion of the north tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral. The best-known legend says that the builder Puchsbaum was only an assistant to the builder at the time of construction and made a pact with the devil to complete the north tower within a year. In this way, Puchsbaum would fulfill the builder's condition that he was allowed to carry out his daughter. However, Puchsbaum could not keep his pact with the devil because - due to the naming of the daughter Maria - he was unable to pronounce the name of the Lord or any other saint for a year.

top, roof

Most noticeable next to the towers is the roof. It rises 37.5 meters above the nave and 25.3 meters above the choir with a length of 110 meters. It is covered with around 230,000 roof tiles, which are arranged in a zigzag pattern in the nave area and were produced in a total of ten colors by the brick factories in Unterthemenau ( Poštorná ). Each of these bricks weighs 2.5 kg, is nailed to the rafters with two copper nails and also embedded in mortar.

The roof structure of the cathedral in the area of ​​the transition between the choir and the nave, looking towards the gallery

Above the choir, on the south side, the coat of arms of the Austrian Empire with the monogram of Emperor Franz I and the year 1831 (new roofing) is shown, on the north side the coat of arms of the city of Vienna and the coat of arms of the Republic of Austria , below with the year 1950 (completion of roofing after destruction in WWII).

The roof structure is a steel structure weighing around 600 tons, which replaced the larch wood roof structure from the 15th century, which burned down completely in 1945. When it was being repaired, a concrete ceiling was also installed in advance over the vaults (in 1946 over the nave with the slightly raised central nave and in 1948 over the choir), on the one hand to protect the interior of the cathedral until the roof was completed, and on the other hand to provide a work and storage area for it to have the roof rebuilt. This reconstruction, largely in the same shape as the original roof, was completed in November 1950.

In the late afternoon hours of the midsummer months , a reflection of the roof can be seen from the vineyards around Grinzing , which vaguely resembles a female figure and is nicknamed Jausenfee .

  • Side view

  • The coats of arms of the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna on the Albertine choir roof of St. Stephen's Cathedral

  • Zigzag pattern of the roof

Gates

Northwest view with the main portal, the Romanesque giant gate, and the two 65-meter-high heather towers

Giant gate

The main portal, the so-called “giant gate”, is on the west side of the cathedral between the two “Heidentürmen”. It was built between 1230 and 1250 in Romanesque style and redesigned into a richly structured funnel portal on the occasion of a visit by Emperor Friedrich II (from the House of Staufer , † 1250). With the entire westwork, it is one of the oldest and most important parts of the cathedral. The origin of the name is uncertain, it is derived either from the fact that a mammoth bone was attached to the gate for a long time, which was regarded as the bone of a giant, or it goes back to the Middle High German word risen (to sink, to fall), which refers to could relate to the funnel shape of the portal. Several stone figures can be seen in small niches in the outer wall, including two lions; a griffin and a seated figure in a strange posture, which presumably represents a judge, but is popularly referred to as the thorn extractor . The portal itself is bordered on each side by seven funnel-shaped pillars adorned with sinuous plant designs. On the capitals there are figures of apostles and saints, but also scenes that are difficult to interpret. Richly structured arches rise above the capitals and encircle the tympanum field , on which Christ as Pantocrator (Christ as ruler of the world) is depicted in a mandorla, the head of which is surrounded by a cross nimbus , with one knee of the statue free.The meaning of this symbolism is unclear , it is associated with acceptance ceremonies in construction huts .

Singertor

To the right of the giant gate, on the southern side of the cathedral, at the beginning of the nave, is the Singertor, which is considered to be the cathedral's most important Gothic work of art. It takes its name from the fact that it served as an entrance gate for the singers of the choir. At the same time it was the usual entrance for the men. It was created around 1360 and arranged in the form of a pointed arch , with figures of the Apostles in the garment . The magnificent tympanum shows the life story of St. Paul . The portrayal of the founders of the new Gothic building, Duke Rudolf IV of Austria on the right and his wife Katharina of Bohemia on the left in the robe, is also important, each accompanied by coats of arms. The gate is being restored and is therefore currently not accessible. Outside, right next to the Singertor, is a Gothic tomb, which is regarded as the alleged burial place of the minstrel Neidhart .

Episcopal Gate

The Bishop's Gate is symmetrical to the Singertor to the left of the giant gate at the beginning of the northern side of the nave. Its name recalls that it served as the entrance gate for the bishops, whose palace is directly opposite. It was also the entrance gate for the women. Its construction took place at about the same time as the Singertor around 1360, and it also corresponds to its structure and structure. The tympanum contains representations from the life story of St. Mary , whereby, in contrast to the male saints in the Singertor, female saints are shown here in the drapery. Here you can also find the statues of the founders, Duke Rudolf IV of Austria on the right and his wife Katharina of Bohemia on the left, which are largely identical to those in the Singertor.

As part of a specialist conference in November 2019, it was announced that the Dombauhütte, in cooperation with the Federal Monuments Office, had freed a monumental mural in the vestibule of the Bishop's Gate from dirt. The large-format wall painting dates from the early 16th century and depicts a winged altar painted on the wall. Saint Leopold can be seen in the middle, flanked by Saints Catherine and Margarethe. Images of the imperial coat of arms with the double-headed eagle and the Austrian shield are interpreted as an indication of an imperial connection. The preliminary drawings of the frame were classified as the highest quality and, based on various details in the lines, hands, curls, etc., were seen as an indication of a work by Albrecht Dürer . A passage in the Dürer biography of Joachim von Sandrart , according to which Emperor Maximilian is said to have ordered the artist to create a large wall drawing, is seen in a new light against the background of the discovery.

The Kolomanistein is walled in in the bishop's gate , part of the stone on which Saint Koloman was supposedly killed. The Bishop's Gate is only accessible from the inside, as the cathedral shop is located there.

Eagle gate

Eagle gate

This broad-based Gothic gate, which is only sparsely equipped with a crowned statue of Mary from the 17th century, is located on the north side of the nave below the north tower, east of the bishop's gate. It owes its name to the north tower above it, which was also called "Adlerturm", as a double-headed eagle was previously depicted on its dome as a symbol of the House of Austria .

A crucifixion by Joachim von Sandrart from 1653 has been installed above the exit to the Adlertor since June 2019 . This picture originally belonged to the Passion Altar behind the tomb of Emperor Friedrich III. in the Apostle's choir (right aisle of the cathedral). It is 6.97 x 4.12 m. This altar was dismantled in 1872/73; the picture was in the north transept in the 1930s. In 1940 it was loaned to the garrison church , after the destruction of this church by bombs it hung in the open for a few weeks in 1945 before it was rescued, temporarily stored and restored by the then custodian of the Schottenstift Robert Mucnjak. From 1957 it was the altarpiece of the parish church in Neulerchenfeld . After the parish was dissolved in 2013, the works of art that did not belong to the parish were removed. Since the picture belongs to the cathedral chapter of St. Stephen, it was returned to them, and it was considered to lend the picture to the parish church of St. Michael . It didn't come to that. The installation in the entrance to the Adlerturmhalle is seen as the optimal place for the picture in the cathedral. In front of the picture there has been a copy of the Wimpassinger Cross from the Romanesque period that had been burned in 1945 since 1995 .

Asylum ring at the Adlertor

Asylum ring or Leo

The asylum ring or the Leo on the left pillar of the Eagle Gate is a very old pulley , pulley or belt pulley that is still rotatable today. By touching the asylum ring, the persecuted could place themselves under the protection of the church. The name Leo refers to Duke Leopold the Glorious , who introduced this form of asylum.

Primglöckleintor

This is located - symmetrically to the Adlertor - on the opposite southern side of the nave below the high south tower, is laid out very similar to the Adlertor and just as sparingly equipped. Only four console figures showing the four evangelists and an angel in the vault of the vestibule have been preserved from the original furnishings. On the middle pillar of the entrance is a figure of Mary with the baby Jesus from around 1420. It owes its name to the fact that a bell was once rung here at the first hearing, i.e. at the prim .

Gable on the nave

Four gables rise above the south-western part of the nave wall . Its westernmost is above the wall above the Singertor and is called the Friedrichsgiebel. This gable was the only one that was completed in the 15th century, the other three (to the east) gables were initially only covered with brickwork. It was not until 1853–55 under the cathedral master builder Leopold Ernst that tracery was added to reflect the state of the art of construction at the time . The Friedrichsgiebel was also dismantled and rebuilt, so that it is difficult to see any differences to the other gables. The cement used at the time, however, brought sulfur compounds into the limestone, which led to cracks, plastering and blasting . The gables had to be replaced as early as the 1860s under Friedrich von Schmidt . Further damage later resulted from the fact that the steel roof structure, which was renewed after 1945, did not fit exactly onto the walls. Originally non-existent deviations had to be compensated, they also led to stronger weathering on the gables. The combination of the different building materials brick and stone also caused damage to the Friedrichsgiebel. In 2015 the Friedrichsgiebel and the adjacent gable were renewed, the other two eastern gables were planned for restoration in 2016. The work on the western half of the south facade was completed, and the black sintered layers were removed from the eastern part of the facade in 2017. This black coating consists largely of plaster of paris, which is the result of a chemical reaction between sulfur compounds in the air and the building's limestone. This process has slowed down in recent years due to the lower proportion of sulfur compounds in the air ( acid rain ). The work on the eastern part of the south facade and on the west side of the south tower was estimated to take another two years in 2018, which is also due to the fact that a construction elevator must be available up to the top scaffolding levels; completion is planned for 2020. This means that the main view of the cathedral (south side with the tower) can be seen again without scaffolding after many years.

Capistan's pulpit

Capistrankanzel at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna

The Capistrankanzel is a small Gothic sandstone pulpit , which is located outside on the corner of the north choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral. It was built between 1430 and 1450, but originally stood on a small hill near today's Churhaus at the "Stephansfreithof", the St. Stephen's cemetery, and was used for funeral speeches and addresses by priests.

Her name is reminiscent of the Franciscan Johannes Capistrano , a once famous preacher against a luxurious and vicious lifestyle; He warned of the threat to Christianity from the advance of the Ottomans , but was also an inquisitor , military leader and initiated pogroms against Jews . On June 6, 1451, Capistrano arrived in Vienna and gave 32 sermons on this pulpit, which were evidently very popular. In 1453, after the fall of Constantinople , he called for a crusade against the Ottomans in Vienna , then moved with the troops he had gathered to the enclosed city of Belgrade and thus contributed significantly to the lifting of their siege and the brief general repression of the Ottoman army in 1456 .

After he was canonized by Pope Alexander VIII (1689–1691) in 1690 and his veneration spread, the pulpit was renovated in 1737, attached to the outside of the cathedral and with the addition of a baroque tower - the statue of the saint stands on a fallen one Turks, exaggerated by angels in the shine of rays - transformed into a monument.

Other features

On the west side you can see the listed symbols of the resistance movement O5 , which made resistance against National Socialism from 1938 to 1945 . Originally they were painted in white; when they faded, they were replaced by engraving.

On the left side of the main gate, two metal rods are embedded in the wall, this is the cloth and linen elbow . These cubits were once legally valid measures of length and could be used by every citizen to check the dimensions of goods. In the Middle Ages, craftsmen were threatened with punishment if their products could not have the correct dimensions (keyword: baker's shovel ); With the help of Ellen, the craftsmen could protect themselves from punishment and the consumers from possible fraud. On the left above the ells there is a circular recess in the masonry, which, according to legend, served as a measure of the size of a loaf of bread. In truth, it is only a matter of signs of wear and tear on a gate fastening, as the main gate of the cathedral was closed with a rococo grille until the second half of the 19th century, which could be opened to the outside and was attached to the outer wall with hooks. On the right side of the gate there is a circle of the same size, where you can see from the metal remains in the center that a hook was attached here.

  • Signs of the resistance movement O5

  • Cloth and linen elf at St. Stephen's Cathedral

  • Sundial on the south side of the main nave choir

  • Passion frescoes on the east side: crowning of thorns

  • Memorial plaque to cathedral builder Friedrich von Schmidt on the south tower

Bend

The south wall of the choir is about 70 cm longer than its north wall. The choir swings about 1 ° from the longitudinal axis of the nave to the north. The nave and choir are oriented towards different sunrise points. This is not seen as the result of a measurement error, but as an intent: The axis of the nave is aligned with the sunrise on St. Stephen's Day (December 26th), while the axis of the choir points to the following Sunday, January 2nd. From the relationship between the building axes and the angle of the deviation, conclusions can be drawn about the time of the dimensions and thus the change of year 1137/1138 (today's calendar and year counting). The (today's) roof ridge does not show this small deviation, it is straight over both parts of the building.

The nave is not built entirely regularly either: it narrows by around 1.1 m towards the east, and its gable walls are not exactly in line with the walls below. These deviations were one of the technical challenges when building the new steel roof structure after the fire in 1945.

Auer and Mannersdorfer Stein for St. Stephen's Cathedral

The invoices of the church master's office that have survived attest to the enormous stone deliveries from Auer and Mannersdorfer to St. Stephan in the years 1404, 1407, 1415–1417, 1420, 1422, 1426, 1427, 1429, 1430 and 1476. The amount of stones that came from the quarries between Mannersdorf and Au am Leithagebirge are very large, according to the calculations, for example in 1415: 732 pieces, 1416: 629 pieces, 1417: 896 pieces, 1426: 963 loads, 1427: 947 loads and 1430: 761 loads.

The stone was bought by the church master's office under the technical advice and control of the cathedral builder or his representative, the parliamentarian . In any case, the work in the quarries was under the supervision of the Dombauhütte . Some names of the "Auer Steinbrecher" are known: Michelen Unger von Au, Peter stainsprecher von Au and "Mannersdorfer Steinbrecher": Chrempel, Amman, Niklas, Sallmann, Uchsenpaur, Velib, Hannsen von Menhersdorf (Mannersdorf), Trunkel and von dem Perendorffer . The stones were brought in by horse and cart. The loads from the Leithagebirge from Mannersdorf and Au each comprise only one block (“stuk”), where the price for breaking was constant, but that for the freight fluctuated, apparently according to weight.

The complete change to Mannersdorfer rock occurs with the construction of the Albertine Choir (1304–1340). Like the Auerstein, the "Mannersdorfer" is a fine to medium-grain sand-lime brick. The majority of the wall cuboids and all profiles including the figure consoles in the choir consist of it. The conditions at the high tower in the large bell room are particularly clear , where the more demanding local stones and corner pillars and all the finer profiles, window frames , tracery etc. were reserved for the Mannersdorfer / Auerstein from the Leithagebirge. In the nave, ashlars in the walls, as well as the yokes adjoining the Eligius chapel and above all the northern wall pillars are made of "Mannersdorfer".

In addition to the Mannersdorfer sandstone , the Mannersdorf algae lime was also used on the old part of the cathedral. Some gargoyles can be detected, for example on the vestibule of the Singertor (1440–1450).

Durability of the stones

Alois Kieslinger , geologist at the Vienna University of Technology, commented critically in 1930 on the question of the durability of natural stone: “The six 'old' churches of Vienna? And how much of it is old? We are currently in the process of repairing the twelfth spire [!] At St. Stephan. "

The restoration work on the cathedral is based on a long-prepared plan: a restoration cycle takes around 35 to 40 years. Irrespective of this, the building is regularly checked by the stonemasons of the cathedral building, because rusted iron reinforcements cause damage again and again (rust takes up more space than iron and can therefore break up the stone).

The inner

The main nave towards the high altar

The nave of the cathedral has three aisles, which identifies it as a parish church. The main nave is aligned with the main altar, the left aisle has a Marian program, the right aisle is dedicated to the apostles .

Although the interior received its appearance in the Middle Ages, the original artistic and liturgical ensemble from the time is only incomplete, as the building was again extensively changed during the Baroque. The grace figure of the so-called Servant Mother of God from the period between 1280 and 1320 is an original from that time.

Altars

The first surviving reports about altars come from the time of the consecration of the choir by Bishop Albert von Passau on April 23, 1340. The bishop not only consecrated the choir hall and anointed it on the still partially preserved apostles' marks, but also consecrated six other altars. Three were in the choir and three by the rood screen , the stone partition between the nave (also known as the lay church) and the choir (also known as the clergy church). The main altar was often called "Vronaltar" in medieval sources because of its proximity to the tabernacle and was on the back wall of the middle choir with St. Stephen as patron. There is no other information about the main altar, except that it was probably a winged altar . A bill from 1437 shows how the sacristan was paid for opening and closing the wings.

According to contemporary reports, the old winged altar became worm-eaten at some point and had to be removed. It was transferred to the monastery of St. Agnes on Himmelpfortgasse (therefore also known as Himmelpfortkloster ). This monastery was later closed under the rule of Emperor Joseph II in the 18th century, at the latest then the trace of the winged altar is lost.

High altar

Baroque high altar

The high altar of the cathedral is an early baroque masterpiece made of marble and stone. Its structure resembles a portal and is therefore a Porta-Coelis (Heavenly Gate ) altar. The theme is the stoning of Saint Stephen, the namesake of the cathedral. The altar is crowned by a statue of Immaculate. It was commissioned by Prince-Bishop Philipp Friedrich Graf Breuner on March 1, 1641, as the wooden carved Gothic winged altar was already completely eaten away by the wood worm.

The altar was built by Johann Jacob Pock , who was a master stonemason, sculptor and architect, and by his brother, Tobias Pock - who painted the altarpiece - and consecrated on May 19, 1647. The altarpiece, created on tin plates over an area of ​​28 square meters, shows the stoning of Saint Stephen in front of the walls of Jerusalem. In the background a crowd can be seen in which other saints are depicted, which at the same time indicates the second patronage of the cathedral - the All Saints' patronage .

Side altars

Wiener Neustädter Altar (holiday side)

There are numerous other altars on the pillars and aisles. For the cathedral, Tobias Pock later created the altarpiece of the Peter and Paul altar, which the stonemasons' guild erected in 1677 and which has been preserved under the organ base as the second oldest baroque altar in the cathedral .

The most important is the Wiener Neustädter Altar from 1447 - a typical Gothic winged altar that shows scenes from the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Wiener Neustädter Altar did not come into the cathedral until 1883, before that it was in the Cistercian church of Wiener Neustadt . It is therefore not part of the original medieval furnishings of St. Stephen's Cathedral.

The altar of the miraculous image of Maria Pócs or Pötsch is located under the late Gothic Öchsel baldachin . It is a copy of an Eastern church icon made in today's Máriapócs (Hungary, then Pötsch ). The picture was said to have a miracle of tears and according to popular belief it supported the imperial troops in the Turkish wars. It was brought to Vienna on the orders of Emperor Leopold I in 1697 and originally placed on the high altar. It has had its current location since 1945.

  • Altar by Maria Pötsch under the Öchsl canopy

  • Wiener Neustädter Altar (weekday side)

Tombs

Cenotaph of Rudolf IV in the "women's choir"

In the north choir next to the Wiener Neustädter Altar is the cenotaph of Rudolf IV and his wife , which is in very poor condition. Originally it was in the middle choir with a portrait of Rudolf IV hanging over it.

The tomb of Frederick III is located in the south choir . It was created by Niclas Gerhaert van Leyden from 1463 and is one of the most important sculptural works of art of the late Middle Ages. It was made from Adneter marble (an Austrian limestone), which is particularly difficult to work with due to its variegation. The cover plate of the tomb comes from Master Niclas himself (he died in 1473). It alone weighs over 8 tons and shows a portrait-like representation of the emperor in coronation regalia, surrounded by his coat of arms and rulership attributes. After the death of Master Niclas, work on the tomb according to his designs was continued and completed in 1513. The relief representations on the sides of the tomb were made by Max Velmet and are reminiscent of the numerous foundations of monasteries by the emperor. Michael Tichter created the balustrade with its 54 figures .

The cathedral builder was responsible for the annual tomb of Emperor Friedrich III. to clean in the cathedral. A letter from Matthias Winkler , master builder at St. Stephan, dated August 26, 1734:

To a highly commendable imperial court chamber
Submissive - most obedient pleading. Your High Count Excellency and Grace.
The annual 6 fl ., Requested for cleaning up the most glorious KAYSERS FRIDERICI GRABS  .

pulpit

pulpit

Another masterpiece of late Gothic sculpture is the pulpit made from Breitenbrunn limestone . It was long attributed to Anton Pilgram , but today the design is more associated with the workshop of Niclaes Gerhaert van Leydens . The pulpit rises like a stylized flower from the base of the pulpit. On the pulpit are the portraits of the four church fathers , the handrail is populated by frogs and amphibians. In the lower part of the stairs is the window gazer  - the plastic self-portrait of an unknown master. For the railing, see number symbols .

  • pulpit

  • Pulpit foot and window peeper

  • The window peeper below the pulpit

Imperial oratorio

The imperial oratorio

The second major completed work by Johann Jacob Pock in the cathedral was the imperial oratory , begun in 1644 and built on behalf of the City of Vienna. The first payment for the stonemasonry was made on April 16, 1644 at a total cost of 1,100  florins . The chief chamberlain noted the completion of the work in the account book in March 1646. The city was satisfied with the work, and presented Master Pock with a silver-gilded pecher sambt deckhl with engraved pegs because of his hard work .

From the canons ' sacristy one reaches the prayer room of the emperor via a curved staircase. The steps made of the hardest imperial stone , from the quarry near the house ("Hausbruch"), the leaseholder was the imperial court sculptor Pietro Maino Maderno . The oratory was created by Emperor Ferdinand III. enter for the first time.

  • Steps to the oratory made of hard imperial stone

  • View into the sacristy, Moses with the tablets of the law

  • Looking up, balustrades, stucco

Chapels

Vault of the Barbara Chapel with hanging keystones

The cathedral is equipped with several art-historically significant chapels. On the west side of the cathedral there are four chapels that go back to the Gothic expansion under Duke Rudolf IV in the second half of the 14th century and were completed at the beginning of the 15th century. Two are located on the northwest (left) and two on the southwest (right) corner of the cathedral, each one on top of the other.

  • The Prinz Eugen Chapel and the Eligius Chapel are located on the ground floor .
  • On the first floor above these two chapels there are two more chapels, the Valentine and the Bartholomew Chapel.
  • Two important - equally symmetrically arranged - Gothic chapels are located outside the nave, east of the two main Gothic towers of the cathedral, the Katharinen- and the Barbara chapel .

Cross or Prince Eugene Chapel

The Kreuzkapelle with the Prinz-Eugen-Crypt

The lower of the chapels on the northwest corner of the cathedral is known by different names. As Morandus chapel after the patronage, as cross chapel after the late Gothic cross located there, as Tirnakapelle after the family von Tirna who had the chapel built in the 14th century and immortalized three times their coat of arms on the outer front of the chapel, later as the Liechtenstein or Savoy chapel after the families who exercised the patronage there, or as the Prinz-Eugen-Kapelle, after the tomb of the probably most famous Austrian general, Prinz Eugen von Savoyen- Carignan (* 1663, † 1736). In addition to the late Gothic cross above the baroque cross altar created in 1731, the gravestone of Prince Eugene set into the floor and the marble epitaph , which Princess Maria Theresia Anna von und zu Liechtenstein († 1772), who with Emanuel Thomas Duke von Savoyen-Carignan, Count of Soissons, was married in 1752 for her husband, who died in 1729, and for his uncle, Prince Eugene of Savoy. The performing artists were Joseph Wurschbauer as a sculptor and goldsmith, and Gabriel Steinböck as a stonemason.

Eligius Chapel

The lower of the chapels in the south-west corner of the cathedral, which is to the right of the giant gate, has two interesting keystones from the 14th century: one shows Christ as the Man of Sorrows, the other Mary with child. There is also the only surviving Gothic winged altar that was made for the cathedral itself. This is the Valentine's Altar, which is consecrated to Saint Bishop Valentin and was therefore originally created for the Cathedral's Valentine's Chapel. There is also the "House Mother of God" (around 1330) from the abandoned Himmelpfort monastery and various pillar figures from the 14th century. The chapel is only available to prayers.

Valentine's Chapel

The Valentine's Chapel with the access to the Romanesque tower chamber created in 2012/13

It is to the left of the giant gate directly above the Prinz-Eugen-Kapelle next to the northern Heidenturm and was completed around 1480. It houses the important collection of relics from the cathedral, which in its beginnings goes back to Duke Rudolf IV. In the middle of the room is the sarcophagus with the bones of St. Valentine. During restoration work in November 2012, consecration crosses were discovered in the chapel, but also a number of doodles ( graffiti ) from the days before St. Nicholas Day 1479 (profestum nicolai), which were attached at the same time (in the still damp plaster ) . The consecration crosses indicate that this chapel (or at least its preparation) was consecrated in 1479, and another consecration is documented for 1507. The graffiti show fool's hats, coats of arms, parts of names and the sentence manus beanorum maculant loca sactorum ( Latin : "The hands of the Beani stain the holy places") and prove that a student initiation ritual , a deposition, took place in the chapel at that time : The name of the person concerned is Jeronymus Kisling, a son from a Viennese trading family, later member of the city council and head of the Vienna Fugger factories.

Bartholomew Chapel

The Bartholomäuskapelle, also called "Königs- or Herzogskapelle", is located on the southern (right) side of the nave directly above the Eligius Chapel, next to the southern Heidenturm. Their most important pieces of equipment, the so-called "Habsburg windows" with medieval representations of representatives of the Austrian ruling house, have been in the then newly established Historical Museum of the City of Vienna and in the Museum of Applied Arts since 1887 . In 2011 the first of these windows was returned to the cathedral by the city administration, and in 2020 a second window will also return to the Bartholomäus chapel. Worth mentioning are the two Gothic keystones, each showing the Archangel Michael , once with the soul scales and once as a dragon slayer .

Katharinen- or baptistery

Baptismal font in St. Catherine's Chapel

The Katharinen- or baptistery, consecrated in 1395, is located on the southern side of the apostle's ship, right next to the (high) south tower. It was probably named in honor of the wife of Duke Rudolf IV, Catherine of Luxembourg, is octagonal and has a hanging keystone . It also contains the font , which was completed in 1481. The font has an octagonal base, above which there is a fourteen-sided font, the crown is heptagonal. The seven sacraments , the evangelists and scenes from the life of Christ are shown in lively late Gothic representations .

Opposite the entrance to the chapel are the remains of the Turkish monument.

Barbara Chapel

The St. Barbara Chapel, consecrated in 1447, is located on the north side outside the women's nave of the cathedral on the east side of the north tower. It was originally dedicated to St. Urbanus and has hanging keystones. In the bars of the late Gothic cross from around 1470, which comes from the parish church in Schönkirchen in Lower Austria, there is a reliquary container with ashes from the Auschwitz concentration camp , and another with earth from the Mauthausen concentration camp . It contains a bust of the blessed martyr Sr. Maria Restituta Kafka , a victim of National Socialism, created by Alfred Hrdlicka .

Opposite the Barbara Chapel, in the tower hall, there is the original of the God of the Toothache , a Gothic Man of Sorrows . The Gothic stone figure was originally located outside the cathedral on the front of the central choir. Since 1960 it has been replaced there by a copy. According to legend, students made fun of him because he looked like he had a toothache, after which they were beaten with toothache themselves and had to apologize.

  • Catherine Chapel

  • Detail of the baptismal crown depicting the sacraments of ordination and baptism

  • The "Toothache Lord God" in the northern tower hall (original)

  • The "Toothache Lord God" on the outside of St. Stephen's Cathedral

Sacristies

There are two sacristies in the cathedral.

Upper sacristy

The "Upper Sacristy" is located at the eastern end of the cathedral in the north, was expanded in the 17th century and furnished in the first quarter of the 18th century. The room is adorned with frescoes by the important Baroque painter Martino Altomonte (* 1657, † 1745), who, together with Johann Michael Rottmayr (* 1654, † 1730), is considered to be the founder of independent Baroque painting in today's Austrian region. The frescoes show scenes from the life of Saint Stephen. There is also a marble fountain from 1718.

Lower sacristy

The "lower sacristy" is located on the west side of the south tower, was built in place of a Gothic sacristy room and consists of two rooms. The first room is furnished with valuable stucco decoration by Antonio Tencala, the ceiling painting shows the sacrifice of the biblical prophet Elias and The Judgment of God on Mount Carmel and comes from the important baroque painter Martino Altomonte. It is framed by stucco pictures of various prophets. At the front of the room is a large Gothic wooden crucifix from around 1420. The figures of Maria and Johannes were created in 1768 by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt . The second room, the sacristy of the bishops or canons, is also decorated with a similar stucco decoration and a ceiling fresco by Martino Altomonte (around 1730) depicting the handing over of the keys to Peter. The small ceiling medallions show the four evangelists and the Annunciation to Mary. There is a figure of the Ekklesia above the entrance door. The original baroque inlaid furniture in the sacristy is also worth mentioning.

Chapter House

On the south side of the cathedral is the chapter house, which is also known as the “sacristy of healing”, as the extensive reliquary of St. Stephen was located there in earlier times. On the outside of the chapter house, an artistically significant wall painting from the 15th century was discovered in 1942. Today the hall is the meeting room of the 12-person cathedral chapter.

Turkish monument

The Turkish Monument , also known as the Monument to the Liberation of the Turks, was unveiled in 1894 on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the second Turkish siege of Vienna, which was defeated in 1683. The designs came from Edmund Hellmer . The monument was destroyed in 1945 when the cathedral burned down when the old Pummerin fell and was then rebuilt in fragmentary form. Some of the destroyed figures of the monument can still be seen in the lapidarium in the lower church.

Epitaphs

Both inside and outside, the wall of the cathedral is covered with epitaphs . They were taken from the cemetery around the cathedral (the Stephansfreithof ), which was abandoned in 1760. Among other things, there are epitaphs for the humanist Johannes Cuspinianus , the doctor and university rector Paul Sorbait , for Georg Slatkonia , the first bishop of Vienna, and the counter-reformer Cardinal Melchior Khlesl , as well as for the master stonemasons Franz Hieß and Johann Georg Prunner .

window

The colorful medieval windows of St. Stephen's Cathedral were replaced by colorless windows during the renovations in the Baroque period , as the old ones were no longer felt to be contemporary. Bright church rooms were preferred in the baroque era. In the 19th century, very colorful and magnificent stained glass windows in the neo-Gothic style were used again. However, these were lost in the course of the Second World War due to bombs and the fire of the cathedral. Today's simple glass windows from the post-war period are gifts from the state of Tyrol. Only the windows behind the main altar, which were heavily supplemented in the 19th century and reassembled from remnants, are still originals from the Middle Ages. The stained glass window in the rose window behind the main organ is a modern design.

Of the historical windows, those of the Bartholomäus chapel have also been partially preserved. They date from the 14th century. In 1887, 40 windows were given to the then new Historical Museum of the City of Vienna , partly as gifts and partly as loans. In 2011 the first of these windows was returned to the cathedral. For 2020 it is planned to put the historical window panes back in their original place.

The east side of the church allows visitors to observe a beautiful play of light on two special days a year at noon: always on December 26th , the name day of the church patron , his icon on the main altar is illuminated by the sun; on January 6th , the end of the Epiphany and Epiphany, the three crowns of the three wise men shine in light.

  • Medieval stained glass window depicting Leopold I (Habsburg)

  • Medieval stained glass window depicting Rudolf I (Bohemia)

  • Medieval stained glass window behind the high altar

  • Window from the 1950s in the Albertine choir with Tyrolean eagle

lighting

In 2018 a new lighting system was installed in the cathedral. Until then, the lighting consisted of 22 historical “Maria Theresa chandeliers” with LED bulbs , 75 pendant lights from the 1960s and a number of spotlights that specifically illuminated altars and figures. Before the introduction of electrical lighting, candles made of beeswax or stearin were common up until the 20th century. During the day, the medieval glass windows produced a mixed, but uniform, warm light spectrum. During the reconstruction after 1945, the windows were mainly kept in pastel-colored blue and green tones, which resulted in a comparatively pale and cool tint of the light in the cathedral. The strength of the earlier electric lighting could not be changed ( dimmed ).

The new lighting consists of five types of light sources ("light modules") that are built in instead of the previous lighting fixtures or (in the case of the chandeliers) inserted into them. The new lighting is provided by LED lights that have different color temperatures and light intensities :

  • Light to see - basic light
  • Light for room I - ceiling illumination
  • Light for the room II - column illumination
  • Object light - accentuation of the altars and figures
  • Mystical light - candlelight on chandeliers and altars (LED candle light color)

All new lighting fixtures are individually controllable and dimmable via a DALI switching network . The cables (as far as they could be visible) are laid from stone-colored supply cables. In 2019, as a further step, the historical chandeliers were switched from light bulbs to LED lights, which use a light color similar to candlelight.

Organ base

Organ base by Anton Pilgram

Not far from the pulpit is the organ base - a ledge on which an organ has been since it was built. It is held on the wall by loop-shaped services that lead to a plastic self-portrait by Anton Pilgram , who thus apparently has to carry everything above it. As a university professor, he is dressed in a doctoral hat and gown and holds a square and compass in his hand. His facial features seem melancholy and should probably express his responsibility. The year 1513 can be read below the portrait.

Organs

Kauffmann organ
Cathedral organ (Rieger organ)

The first documentary mention of an organ in St. Stephen's Cathedral goes back to 1334; In 1336 the new building of an organ that is not mentioned in detail has been handed down. After the organ base on the north wall of the cathedral was completed in 1513, an organ was erected there - possibly the instrument built in 1336. The organ on the Füchsel baldachin was built in 1507 by Burchard Tischlinger (also Dinstlinger) from Bozen and expanded in 1545 by Jacob Kunigschwerdt from Zwettl. An unspecified organ is mentioned for the choir room around 1685; In 1701 Josef Römer from Vienna built a new organ with 10 registers on the musicians' choir that was newly built above the choir stalls . This instrument was replaced in 1886 by a new building from the Rieger company, whereby the existing housing was still used. In 1945 the organ in question was destroyed in a fire in the cathedral.

The history of the organs on the west gallery begins with the organ built there by Josef Römer and completed in 1720. This was expanded in 1797 - presumably by Ignaz Kober - to include the registers of the aisle organs that had previously been removed. In 1886 this instrument had to give way to a new building made by Eberhard Friedrich Walcker , whereby the case from 1720 was retained. Like the choir organ, the Walcker organ was destroyed by flames in the last days of the war in 1945 - in contrast, the Walcker organ of the Vienna Votive Church , commonly referred to as its “little sister”, has been preserved to this day.

After the cathedral was rebuilt, the Viennese organ builder Johann M. Kauffmann built two new organs: in 1952 the choir organ with 18 stops on two manuals and pedal was completed. Between 1956 and 1960 a new instrument was installed on the west gallery. The so-called Kauffmann organ has 125 registers (approx. 10,000 pipes) on four manuals and a pedal. and is still the largest organ in Austria today. The instrument was built with an electric cone shop that was already outdated at the time of its creation and is considered to have failed in terms of sound and technology from the start.

In view of the inferior post-war material used in its construction, the Kauffmann organ was long regarded as unsanitary. Therefore, cathedral organist Peter Planyavsky obtained from Cardinal Hans Hermann Groër the purchase of a new organ, the so-called cathedral organ, which would meet musical and liturgical requirements . The new instrument was built in 1991 by the Austrian organ builder Rieger and is installed at ground level in the south (right) aisle near the crossing. The organ has 55 registers on four manuals (Hauptwerk, Positiv, Schwellwerk, Solowerk) as well as a pedal and is designed as a universal instrument that enables the performance of organ music from different epochs and the diverse requirements of church music in a cathedral church (including leadership of the parish chant, cooperation with the cathedral music).

With the inauguration of the new cathedral organ in 1991, the Kauffmann organ was shut down. For a long time it was unclear what should happen to it, until finally, in 2017, largely on the initiative of the cathedral music director Markus Landerer , its renovation was decided. In the Holy Week of 2017, the contract for the renovation of the large Kauffmann organ was signed by the Vorarlberg organ building company Rieger. The organ should be completed by 2020 and solemnly re-inaugurated on Easter Sunday 2020, the 75th anniversary of the destruction of St. Stephen's Cathedral. This appointment was canceled because the celebration would not have been possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the work (not least because of the pandemic) could not yet be completed.

In October 2009 - again by the Rieger company - the Haydn organ was completed as a mobile choir organ with 12 stops on two manuals and a pedal in order to be able to meet the liturgical requirements of the services at the various altars in St. Stephen's Cathedral.

In 2007 Markus Landerer was appointed as cathedral music director.

The catacombs

Floor plan of the catacombs (from Bermann: Old and New Vienna, 1880)
Engraving from the duke's crypt around 1758 (after renovation or expansion by Maria Theresa).
The duke's crypt under the central choir with the coffin of the founder and his wife in the center. In the foreground are the niches in which the intestinal urns of over 70 Habsburgs are kept.

Under the cathedral there is an extensive system of around 30 burial chambers, which have been called " catacombs " since the 19th century . Access is through a staircase in the left aisle and through the crucifix chapel. The core of the catacombs can be traced back to a princely burial chamber that Duke Rudolf IV had built around 1363 and is now called the Duke's Crypt . Under Maria Theresa the ducal crypt was greatly expanded.

After the above-ground cemetery was closed on April 25, 1732, the "new crypts" were created from 1745 onwards, which are not under the cathedral, but under Stephansplatz. Access was via the crucifix chapel next to the Capistran pulpit on the outside of the cathedral. A total of more than 10,000 corpses were deposited here underground. This practice was banned in 1783 under Emperor Joseph II , but many of the remains remained under the cathedral. In the 20th century, several burial chambers were destroyed when an underground car park was built. Some of the catacombs can be visited on guided tours.

The ducal crypt

The duke's crypt, which is located in a vaulted room under the central choir, consists of two parts. In the main part there are 16 coffins of members of the House of Austria , in wall niches there are also containers in which the entrails of 76 members of the ruling family were buried, whose bodies have been in the Capuchin Crypt since 1633 and their hearts in the "Herzerlgruft" since 1637 the Loretto Chapel of the Augustinian Church, both a few minutes' walk away

The burials in the duke's crypt

The following people are buried in the ducal crypt:

  1. Friedrich III., King of the Holy Roman Empire (1289 - January 13, 1330)
  2. Friedrich III, Duke of Austria (March 31, 1347 - December 10, 1362)
  3. Rudolf IV, Archduke of Austria (November 1, 1339 - July 27, 1365)
  4. Catherine of Luxembourg , wife of Rudolf IV (1342 - April 26, 1395)
  5. Albrecht III, Archduke of Austria (September 9, 1348 - August 29, 1395)
  6. Albrecht IV, Archduke of Austria (September 21, 1377 - September 14, 1404)
  7. Wilhelm, Archduke of Austria (1370 - July 15, 1406)
  8. Leopold IV, Archduke of Austria (1371 - June 3, 1411)
  9. Archduke Georg (February 16, 1435 - February 16, 1435), son of King Albrecht II.
  10. Albrecht VI, Archduke of Austria (December 18, 1418 - December 2, 1463)
  11. Archduke Ferdinand (March 28, 1551 - June 25, 1552), son of Emperor Maximilian II.
  12. Archduchess Maria (February 19, 1564 - March 26, 1564), daughter of Emperor Maximilian II.
  13. Archduke Karl (1565 - 1566), son of Emperor Maximilian II.
  14. Elisabeth of Austria (July 5, 1554 - January 22, 1592), Queen of France and wife of King Charles IX. from France
  15. Eleonora Gonzaga (September 23, 1598 - June 27, 1655), German Queen and second wife of Emperor Ferdinand II ; Her body was transferred here in 1783 from the Carmelite convent she had founded in Leopoldstadt .

Urns with the bowels

In addition to the Capuchin Crypt, this collection is the most important reliquary of the mortal remains of Austrian rulers and their families in the smallest space in the crypt in St. Stephen's Cathedral and thus an important monument of European history that extends from the 17th to the 19th century.

The later members of the House of Habsburg were embalmed with the entrails as a result of the improved preservation methods.

The bishop's crypt

The copper coffins of the following bishops, prince-bishops, prince-archbishops and archbishops of Vienna are located in the bishop's crypt:

The canon crypt

Members of the cathedral chapter are buried in the canon crypt.

Cathedral treasure

Exhibits of the cathedral treasure on the west gallery of the cathedral

The title “Cathedral Treasure” refers to numerous masterpieces of sacred painting, gold and silversmithing, as well as hundreds of relics and other historical conglomerates that are owned by the Metropolitan Chapter of St. Stephen in Vienna, founded by Rudolf IV .

They are presented to the public in the Dom Museum Vienna and in a permanent museum exhibition in the upper westwork, the oldest part of the cathedral church, entitled "Cathedral Treasure of St. Stephen" . Most of the objects are exhibited in the cathedral church, but those with a high cultural and art historical value such as the gold silk shroud of Rudolf IV and his portrait, which is considered the oldest oblique portrait of the West , in the cathedral museum.

Further exhibits from St. Stephen's Cathedral, mainly picture windows from the 14th century and original stone statues from the 15th century, are presented in a permanent exhibition at the Wien Museum Karlsplatz .

In the attic of the cathedral there is a large model of the church building on a scale of 1:25. It is made of wood and paper mache , 5.4 m high, 4.34 m long and 3 m wide. This model was built by Carl Schropp in Bamberg from 1849–59 and came to Vienna in 1904 at the expense of Ludwig Zatzka . It was donated to the City of Vienna on the occasion of Karl Lueger's 60th birthday . It was already planned to be installed in the Historical Museum of the City of Vienna, but this was not possible there for decades due to a lack of space. After the cathedral was rebuilt after 1945, the model was placed in its attic. In 1972 it was left entirely to the cathedral. The first restoration took place in 1997, after which the model was shown dismantled in the Wien Museum. A further restoration is to take place from 2019, after which the model is to be placed there on loan after the reopening of the Wien Museum.

Bells

Pummerin, National Day October 26, 2013
Pummerin

St. Stephen's Cathedral has 22 church bells , 18 of which serve as liturgical bells and two as clock bells; two bells are turned off and inoperative. The most important bell is the pummerin .

Pummerin

The largest bell, the Pummerin , hangs in the north tower. It is the largest bell in Austria and the third largest bell in Western and Central Europe . It was cast again from the metal of its predecessor in 1951 after the Second World War as a gift from the federal state of Upper Austria . It is only rung on solemn festivals as well as on New Year's Eve and on special occasions (e.g. signing of the State Treaty, death of the Federal President, election of a Pope).

Surname
  		Strike tone
(a 1 = 435 Hz) 		Weight
(kg) 		Diameter
(m) 		Casting year
  		Caster
 
Pummerin c 0 + 4 / 16 20,130
(clapper: 613)		 3.14 1951 St. Florian

The bell rings

The main bell - known as the festival bell - consists of the eleven bells that were cast by the Pfundner bell foundry in 1960 and are hung in the bell room of the high south tower. Except for the clapper of the 3 small bells built in in the 80s, nothing has changed in the electronics, bell systems, etc. The entire facility is currently being renovated. The old chimes from the 1960s will be replaced, as will the clapper of the big bells. In July 2017 the old bell computer was replaced by a new touch screen computer from Grassmayr.

The large Stephanus bell (1) - traditionally referred to as the half pummer - is the cathedral's other festival bell next to the pummer and forms the basic bell for the ringing of high mass on festive days. On Sundays at high mass, all bells based on the Leopold bell (2) are rung , for the other masses on Sundays and for the weekday masses, smaller groups of seven or three bells are rung. The Christophorus bell (3) is used to ring the Angelus every weekday at 7 a.m., 12 p.m. and 7 p.m., and the Leopold bell rings at 3 p.m. when the divorce bells on Friday afternoon . After the evening angelus, the death bell (9) is used to ring the poor soul .

No.
  		Surname
  		Strike tone
(a 1 = 435 Hz) 		Weight
(kg) 		Diameter
(mm)
1 Stephanus bell (half pummer) g 0 + 11 / 16 5,221.5 1,987
2 Leopold Bell c 1 + 8 / 16 2,193 1,506
3 Christophorus Bell it 1 + 13 / 16 1,286 1,257
4th Leonhard Bell f 1 + 8 / 16 956 1,120
5 Joseph Bell g 1 + 12 / 16 593 1,000
6th Petrus Canisius bell b 1 + 11 / 16 388 860
7th Pius X Bell c 2 + 8 / 16 266.9 750
8th All Saints Day Bell d 2 + 8 / 16 261.4 710
9 Clemens Maria Hofbauer bell f 2 + 11 / 16 108.9 560
10 Archangel Michael Bell a 2 + 9 / 16 63.9 450
11 Tarzisius bell c 3 + 11 / 16 44.4 390

In the northern Heidenturm

Secondary bell

The ringing bell hangs in the northern Heidenturm. Every Thursday evening is rung with the fire for the fear of Christ , with the rest of the bells for the Saturday and Sunday vespern . The heath tower bells have been included in the evening angel since 2017. On Fridays after the evening angelus, the choir bell rings to commemorate all those who died in the past week. On Saturdays after the evening angelus, the churpötsch rings as a soloist.

No.
  		Surname
  		Strike tone
(a 1 = 435 Hz) 		Weight
(kg, approx.) 		Diameter
(mm, approx.) 		Casting year
  		Caster
 
1 Feuerin (fire or council bell) dis 1 ± 0 1,750 1,410 1879 Friedrich Gössner
2 Kantnerin or Gnandt (called bell) dis 1 + 2 / 16 1,250 1,300 1772 Franz Josef Sheichel
3 Fehringerin fis 1 + 4 / 16 750 1,100
4th Bieringerin (Bierglöckl) gis 1 + 7 / 16 530 980
5 Churpötsch c 2 + 11 / 16 290 790
6th Chorglöckl g 2 + 8 / 16 212 620 around 1280 Konrad of Munich

The canteen, Fehringer and Bieringer form the Asperges bell .

The choir Glöckl dates from the years following the great Viennese city fire 1276. From his bell-founder, Conrad of Munich, also a bell that has Ruprechtskirche received. The Chorglöckl was restored in 2017 in the Grassmayr bell foundry in Innsbruck and moved to its former location in February 2017. His clapper, which was last renewed in the Baroque period, was hidden in a wall niche in the northern pagan tower. This small bell (formerly also called Ambt glokgen) served as a measuring bell and originally hung in the northern Heidenturm; it is the oldest surviving bell in the cathedral. The old bells, 6 of which were at war, were spread over the north tower, south tower and the two pagan towers. The bells 5-9 were hanging in the northern pagan tower. In the southern Heidenturm the bells 3-4, in the north tower the half-pummerin (St. John's bell) and in the south tower the pummerin (Josefinic bell) with a few single bells.

The disposition of the old bell was: H °°, e °, g sharp °, c ', dis', dis', f sharp', g sharp ', c' ', g' '.

Clock bells

Two bells for the clock are hung in the belfry of the tower; the quarter hours are struck on the prim bell , the full hours on the clock bell :

No.
  		Surname
  		Strike tone
(a 1 = 435 Hz) 		Weight
(kg, approx.) 		Diameter
(mm, approx.) 		Casting year
  		Caster
 
1 Clock sounds of 1 + 4 / 16 1500 1490 1449 J. Straiffing & P. ​​Obrecht
2 Primbelllein g 2 - 4 / 16 140 600 1771 Franz Josef Sheichel

More bells

Two small bells that escaped being melted down as part of the metal collection in 1942 are placed in the Pummerin's bell room . According to their names, they were mainly rung individually. The Speisglöckl (dining bell) was rung for communion , the Zügenglöckl (train bell) exhorted the people to pray for those who were on their last legs. These two bells were once hung in the spire of the high tower next to the clock bell . Before 2017, the third bell was the choir bell, which had the same fate as the other two bells, also set up at the Pummerin.

Surname
  		Strike tone
(a 1 = 435 Hz) 		Weight
(kg, approx.) 		Diameter
(mm, approx.) 		Casting year
  		Caster
 
Dining bell c 2 ± 0 240 735 1746 Joh. Josef Pfrenger
Train bell it 2 - 6 / 16 150 650 1830 Bartholomäus Kaffel

Clocks

A mechanical clock on the Stephansturm is mentioned for the first time in 1417 . In 1700, a clockwork with a weight of around 700 kg and four dials was installed in the south tower. This clockwork was dismantled without replacement in the course of the tower restoration in 1861 and is now on display in the Vienna Clock Museum. As a "compensation", two clocks were built into the Romanesque rosettes of the Heidentürme next to the giant gate on the west side of the cathedral, the northern one having a normal dial and the southern one a "digital" one. In 1961, the northern dial was redesigned by the Austrian painter Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger . Three years later, the southern clock, which was destroyed in the fire in 1945, was also restored.

In addition to the sundials that were already on the east and west sides, another sundial was attached to the southern buttressing arrows of the apostles ' choir ( choir of the apostles' aisle or the right aisle ) in 1554 to “adjust” the tower clock . It is the oldest preserved sundial in Vienna and was restored around 2003.

Dimensions

Bronze model next to the cathedral
length
Overall length outside 107.2 m
Overall width outside 34.2 m
Height aisles 22.4 m
Height of main nave 28.0 m
Height of the three choir halls 22.4 m
South tower 136.44 m
North tower 68.3 m
Pagan towers 66.3 m and 65.3 m
Roof length 110 m
Roof height from the top of the wall 37.85 m

Number symbolism

20 shilling coin (1997)

The dimensions of the cathedral are based on the numbers three (for the Trinity ) and four (the number of the earthly - temperaments, cardinal points, seasons, etc.). Three plus four is seven , the number of days of creation , sacraments , major virtues , major vices , beatitudes , words on the cross , gifts of the Holy Spirit and others.

Seven behind three equals thirty-seven. Three times thirty-seven is one hundred and eleven. According to frequent statements, the cathedral is 111 feet wide and 333 feet long, the south tower is 444 feet high; in reality, however, the length differs by 107.2 m (approximately 350 feet).

The banister to the pulpit consists of stylized wheels, a three-pass (divided three times) and a four-pass .

The number of steps on the stairs to the bell tower's tower room (and thus today's viewing terrace) is 343, that is , so .

Twelve (= 3 × 4) pinnacle towers complete the substructure of the south tower. The spire (Christ and the 12 apostles) rises from the center.

The windows in the nave (where the lay people are staying) consist of four parts each, the windows in the priest area of ​​three parts each.

Ownership

St. Stephen's Cathedral as such (the church building ) has legal personality according to canon law . He is recognized as a legal person under the name "Roman Catholic Metropolitan and Parish Church of St. Stefan in Vienna" in the state area according to the Concordat and thus also in the land register as a legal person, he is the owner of his property (5740 m²) in the land register registered. The property boundaries are essentially the walls of the church building (outer edges of the buttresses), the property of the cathedral is surrounded by Stephansplatz . This square is owned by the City of Vienna (public good).

The administration of the cathedral assets was previously an honorary position of wealthy members of the City Council of Vienna, the church master . They were responsible for completing the construction work, supervising the craftsmen and managing the cathedral's assets. It was not until 1834 that a priest, the cur and choir master of St. Stephan, was involved in managing the property. The Concordat of 1855 finally entrusted the administration of assets to ecclesiastical institutions, in 1858 an office subordinate to the Archbishop of Vienna was established for this purpose.

St. Stephen's Cathedral owns other real estate assets: a third of the choir and choir house at St. Stefan (that is the house south of St. Stephen's Cathedral). The other two thirds of this house belong to the "Archbishop of Chur in Vienna" and the Archdiocese of Vienna.

The cathedral as a fire station

As the tallest building in Vienna for centuries, the cathedral once also housed the city's fire station . In 1534, five years after the first Turkish siege , the function of a tower keeper was established, who performed his duty in a tower room at a height of 72 meters. When a fire was detected within the city, it had to wave a red flag during the day and a red lantern at night in the direction of the fire and warn the population with a tinny mouthpiece . At the same time, a written message was sent down a downpipe to the tower master, who alerted the military fire station on nearby St. Peter's Square with a bell .

The Türmerstube was occupied for several centuries for early detection. In 1835, the director of the Vienna observatory, Karl Ludwig von Littrow, developed a so-called toposcope with which fires could still be recognized in the grown city. On the telescope attached to the joints one could read off the angles and thus pass on coordinates . Until 1855 these reports were made in writing. A pointer telegraph was later set up to forward the message directly to the central fire station at Am Hof . The last remains of this complex were found during excavations in 1955.

Although doubts about the necessity arose in the interwar period, tower keepers were in use until after the Second World War . The last tower keeper was on duty until December 31, 1955, 421 years after this function was established.

Sporting event

Since 2012 there has been a flight of stairs in the south tower to the Türmerstube every year in May (2014, however, on June 6th; 2020 not because of the CoV pandemic) during the Steffl-Kirtag . The run, organized by the Austrian Athletics Association, has been part of the Staircase World Cup since it was first held. The course records for the 343 steps or 67 meters in altitude are held by Matjaž Mikloša (SLO, m, 2014) with 1: 17.75 min and Sandrina Illes (AUT, w, 2014) with 1: 59.02 min (as of 2015) .

See also

literature

in alphabetical order by authors / editors

  • Johann Josef Böker : St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, architecture as a symbol for the House of Austria. Verlag Anton Pustet, 2007, ISBN 978-3-7025-0566-0 .
  • Felix Czeike : Historical Lexicon Vienna. Volume 5. Verlag Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-218-00547-7 , pp. 335ff.
  • Reinhard H. Gruber: The St. Stephan cathedral in Vienna. 3. Edition. Church master's office St. Stephan, Vienna 2011.
  • Reinhard H. Gruber, Robert Bouchal: The Stephansdom. Monument of Faith - history turned into stone. Pichler Verlag, Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-85431-368-3 .
  • Gabriele Hasmann : St. Stephen's Cathedral. Pichler Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-85431-555-1 .
  • Maria Magdalena Zykan: The high tower of St. Stephan in Vienna . Phil. Diss. Univ. Vienna 1967.
  • Anton Heiller : Problems with the new organ in St. Stephen's Cathedral. In: Österreichische Musikzeitschrift , vol. 15 / issue 10, October 1960, p. 457ff.
  • Nikolaus Hofer (ed.): Archeology and building research in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. Sources on the building history of the cathedral up to the end of the 13th century. Wiener Dom-Verlag, Vienna 2013. ISBN 978-3-85351-249-4 (with the findings of the monument protection excavations in 1996 and 2000/2001).
  • Christian Kayser: The steeple of the Stephansturm in Vienna - a lost monument . In: INSITU 2019/1, pp. 109–132.
  • Anton Macku, Lucca Chmel : St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna after the fire in April 1945. Franz Deuticke, Vienna 1947.
  • Anton von Perger: The cathedral to Sanct Stephan in Vienna. Trieste 1858 ( digitized in the Google book search)
  • Alexander Rausch , Christian Fastl: St. Stephan (Vienna). In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-7001-3067-8 .
  • Barbara Schedl: St. Stephan in Vienna. The Gothic church under construction (1200-1500). Vienna-Cologne-Weimar 2018.
  • Paul W. Stix, Lucca Chmel (Ed.): The Viennese Passion. The Gothic passion tablets of the burned choir stalls at St. Stephan in Vienna. Herold, Vienna 1950.
  • Hans Tietze (arrangement): History and description of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. With plan recordings by Michael Engelhart . (= Austrian Art Topography , edited by the Art History Institute of the Federal Monument Protection; Volume 23). Filser, Vienna 1931.

Movies

  • St. Stephan - Der Lebende Dom , documentary from the series ORF Universum , Austria, 1997, 50 min., Director and production: Georg Riha .
  • The stone witness. St. Stephen's Cathedral tells history. Documentary, Austria, 2011, 52:30 min., Script and direction: Roswitha and Ronald Vaughan, production: Vaughan Video, ORF , 3sat , first broadcast: December 22, 2011 on 3sat.

Web links

Commons : Stephansdom  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "We'll just have to rebuild St. Stephen's Cathedral". Cardinal Innitzer when it reopened in 1952: the cathedral became a "national shrine" and a visible symbol of the unity of the country. Media report of the Austrian Bishops' Conference, April 9, 2015, accessed on February 22, 2018 .
  2. ↑ St. Stephen's Cathedral - an All Saints Church. - Report of the Archdiocese of Vienna, October 9, 2013, accessed on March 4, 2017.
  3. ^ Michaela Kronberger: Settlement chronological research on the canabae legionis of Vindobona. The burial grounds. (= Monographs of Urban Archeology Vienna, 1), Vienna 2005, ISBN 978-3-901232-56-5 .
  4. ↑ Reinhard Pohanka : The exchange contract of Mautern 1137 and the building of St. Stephan - facts, consequences and speculations. In: 850 years of St. Stephan: Symbol and center in Vienna 1147–1997. Vienna 1997, pp. 380-385.
  5. ^ Ferdinand Opll: The Vienna Stephanskirche before its first mention. In: Studies on Viennese History. Yearbook of the Association for the History of the City of Vienna JbVGStW 75, year 2019. ISSN  1027-8788 pp. 153–179.
  6. ↑ a b c d Alfred Missong : Holy Vienna. 3rd edition, Wiener Dom-Verlag 1970, p. 22.
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Zehetner: Annual report of the cathedral builder. In: The Cathedral. Bulletin of the Vienna Cathedral Association. ZDB ID 1054178-0 . Issue 2/2018. P. 9.
  8. ^ Alfred Fischeneder: The Albertine Choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, results of a style-critical building study. Austrian Journal for Art and Monument Preservation , LXVII, Issue 1/2, Horn / Vienna 2013, pp. 106–121.
  9. ↑ Alfred Eder fish-Meis Eder: The chancel of St. Stephen in Vienna. Architecture and written sources, Speaking stones, magazine of the Austrian Society for the Preservation of Monuments and Sites, No. 154, LVIII, Vienna 2019, pp. 35-41. ( https://www.denkmal-ortsbildpflege.at/download/heftdownload/Ssteine_sprech_154_web.pdf )
  10. ↑ Alfred Wendehorst , Stefan Benz (ed.): Directory of the secular canons of the Reich Church. 1997, ISBN 3-7686-9146-2 , p. 192.
  11. ↑ Marlene Zykan: On the building history of the high tower of St. Stephan. In: Wiener Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte. 23 1970, pp. 28-65.
  12. ↑ Richard Perger: The builders of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna in the late Middle Ages. In: Wiener Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte. 23 1970, pp. 81-84.
  13. ^ Johann Josef Böker: The Vienna St. Stephen's Cathedral. Salzburg 2007, pp. 162-175.
  14. ↑ Konstantin Moritz A. Langmaier: Archduke Albrecht VI. of Austria (1418–1463). A prince caught between dynasty, regions and empire. Cologne u. a. 2015, p. 582ff.
  15. ^ Johann Josef Böker: The Vienna St. Stephen's Cathedral. Anton-Pustet-Verlag, Salzburg 2007, pp. 255-319.
  16. ^ Ottfried Neubecker : Coat of arms. Their origin, meaning and value. ISBN 3-8105-1306-7 .
  17. ↑ Our Stephansdom → Förderer → Gerhard Klinkicht , stephansdom.at, accessed on March 4, 2017.
  18. ↑ Memorial plaques in Vienna - Gerhard Klinkicht Hauptmann, Savior from St. Stephen's Cathedral, 1915–2000 , on viennatouristguide.at
  19. ^ Wien Museum / Magazin: Fire of St. Stephen's Cathedral in 1945, "It was the Russians" - not , April 10, 2020
  20. ↑ Archdiocese of Vienna : 74 years ago, St. Stephen's Cathedral burned the heart of Vienna , April 16, 2019
  21. ^ Johann Josef Böker: The Vienna St. Stephen's Cathedral, architecture as a symbol for the house of Austria. The southern high tower. Verlag Anton Pustet, 2007, pp. 97-131.
  22. ^ Ferdinand Opll : The siege of the Turks in Vienna and the collective memory of the city. In: Karl Fischer (Ed.): Studies on Viennese history. Yearbook of the Association for the History of the City of Vienna JbVGStW, Volume 64/66 (2008/2009). Association for the History of the City of Vienna. Vienna 2013, p. 177 ( ZDB -ID 1160253-3 ) with reference to: Birgit and Thomas Ertl: Sun and Moon: The crowning of the tower on St. Stephen's Cathedral between the two Turkish sieges. In: Viennese history sheets . Volume 52, year 1997, p. 65 ( ZDB -ID 2245-7 ).
  23. ^ Anton Faber : Tower crowning 1519. In: Der Dom. Bulletin of the Vienna Cathedral Association. ZDB ID 1054178-0 . Issue 1/2019. P. 12.
  24. ^ Gabriele Hasmann: The Stephansdom. P. 32.
  25. ↑ Peter Csendes : Des riches houptstat in Osterrich. 1987.
  26. ^ A b c Association for the Preservation of St. Stephen's Cathedral: The Clocks of St. Stephan. ( Online ) In: “Our St. Stephen's Cathedral”, No. 85 / September 2009
  27. ↑ Vienna Clock Museum : The great clock tower of St. Stephan and its history  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; accessed on March 27, 2018@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.wienmuseum.at  
  28. ^ The new building of the upper pyramid of the Stephansthurm in Vienna . In: Illustrirte Zeitung . No. 4 . J. J. Weber, Leipzig July 22, 1843, p. 57-58 ( Wikisource ).
  29. ↑ Johann Trost: The reconstruction of the upper pyramid of the Vienna Stephansthurm. In: Allgemeine Bauzeitung , Vienna, 8th year 1843, pp. 5–17 ( digitized in the Google book search).
  30. ↑ Alois Kieslinger : The stones of St. Stephan. Herold, Vienna 1949, pp. 372–374.
  31. ^ ORF documentation Die Dombauhütte zu St. Stephan.
  32. ↑ St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna becomes part of a global lightning current measurement system. In: derStandard.at. September 2, 2014, accessed March 4, 2017 .
  33. ↑ St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Graz clock tower as a measuring station for lightning strikes. Phoenix Contact, accessed on March 4, 2017 (project description and measurement results).
  34. ↑ Obituary Dr. Carl Manner. In: The Cathedral. Bulletin of the Vienna Cathedral Association. ZDB ID 1054178-0 . Issue 1/2017. P. 11.
  35. ↑ Our St. Stephen's Cathedral → The History of St. Stephen's Cathedral , stephansdom.at, accessed on March 4, 2017.
  36. ↑ a b Gabriele Hasmann: The St. Stephen's Cathedral. P. 31.
  37. ↑ Our St. Stephen's Cathedral → Architecture → The North Tower , stephansdom.at, accessed on March 4, 2017.
  38. ↑ a b Reinhard H. Gruber: The St. Stephan cathedral in Vienna. Office of the church master of St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna 2011.
  39. ^ A b Wolfgang Zehetner : The roof of St. Stephan. In: Our St. Stephen's Cathedral. No. 95 / March 2012 ( PDF ).
  40. ↑ Folder "City Life"
  41. ↑ a b Reinhard H. Gruber: The St. Stephan cathedral in Vienna. Pp. 27-28.
  42. ↑ a b Reinhard H. Gruber: The St. Stephan cathedral in Vienna. P. 25.
  43. ↑ “Review: Specialist conference“ Wall painting in the Dürer period in St. Stephen's Cathedral ”” on the website of the Federal Monuments Office (accessed on November 15, 2019). The various problems were discussed here.
  44. ^ Wolfgang Zehetner: Annual report of the cathedral master builder. In: The Cathedral. Bulletin of the Vienna Cathedral Conservation Association. Episode 2/2019 ZDB -ID 1054178-0 . P. 8.
  45. ↑ Stephansdom: Possible wall drawing discovered by Albrecht Dürer , accessed on December 29, 2019
  46. ↑ Josef Weismayer : A cross returns. The crucifixion picture by Joachim von Sandrart (1653). In: The Cathedral. Bulletin of the Vienna Cathedral Conservation Association. Episode 2/2019 ZDB -ID 1054178-0 . Pp. 10-11.
  47. ^ Wolfgang Zehetner: Annual report of the cathedral master builder. In: The Cathedral. Bulletin of the Vienna Cathedral Conservation Association. Episode 2/2019 ZDB -ID 1054178-0 . P. 7.
  48. ↑ Reinhard H. Gruber: The St. Stephan cathedral in Vienna. Pp. 25-26.
  49. ^ Wolfgang Zehetner: Annual report of the cathedral master builder. About completed and ongoing projects in the 2015 working year. In: Der Dom. Bulletin of the Vienna Cathedral Conservation Association. Published by the Vienna Cathedral Conservation Association. Volume 2/2015, Vienna 2015, pp. 2, 3 and 6 ( ZDB -ID 1054178-0 ).
  50. ^ Wolfgang Zehetner: Annual report of the cathedral master builder. In: The Cathedral. Bulletin of the Vienna Cathedral Conservation Association. Episode 2/2017 ZDB -ID 1054178-0 . Pp. 4-5, 8.
  51. ^ Wolfgang Zehetner: Annual report of the cathedral master builder. In: The Cathedral. Bulletin of the Vienna Cathedral Conservation Association. Episode 2/2018 ZDB -ID 1054178-0 . P. 5.
  52. ^ Wolfgang Zehetner: Annual report of the cathedral master builder. In: The Cathedral. Bulletin of the Vienna Cathedral Conservation Association. Episode 2/2019 ZDB -ID 1054178-0 . P. 9.
  53. ^ The so-called Capistran pulpit near St. Stephan in Vienna. In: Communications from the KK Central Commission for the research and preservation of architectural monuments. Volume 15, Vienna 1870, p. XCII f. ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  54. ^ Gabriele Hasmann: The Stephansdom. P. 66.
  55. ↑ Bread Measure and Bäckerschupfen - Poetry and Truth , viennatouristguide.at, accessed on March 25, 2017.
  56. ^ University of Vienna. Regulations and norms at Stephansplatz ( Memento from December 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  57. ^ Erwin Reidinger : Orientation of medieval churches . In: Office of the Lower Austrian State Government (Ed.): Gestalte (n). The magazine for building, architecture and design . N ° 139, March 2013, p. 43–47 ( noe-gestalten.at [accessed on September 21, 2014]). Pp. 46-47 ( ZDB ID 2708987-3 ).
  58. ↑ Erwin Reidinger: St. Stephan: location, orientation and axis bend, a comparison with the temple complex in Jerusalem. In: Karin Domany, Johann Hisch (Ed.): The St. Stephen's Cathedral. Orientation and symbolism. Wiener Dom-Verlag, Vienna 2010. ISBN 978-3-85351-216-6 , pp. 83-89 (with sketches of the location).
  59. ↑ Wolfgang Zehetner: The reconstruction of the cathedral. The work 1945–1952. In: The Cathedral. Bulletin of the Vienna Cathedral Conservation Association. Published by the Vienna Cathedral Conservation Association. Volume 1/2015, Vienna 2015, p. 11 ( ZDB -ID 1054178-0 ).
  60. ^ Karl Uhlirz: The accounts of the church master's office of St. Stephan in Vienna. Wilhelm Braumüller publishing house, Vienna 1902.
  61. ↑ Karl Tschank: The importance of the "Auerstein" as a building and work stone in the course of time. Contained in Rudolf Krauscher (Ed.): Au am Leithagebirge. 2002, pp. 311-323.
  62. ↑ Karl Tschank: Mannersdorf stone of St. Stephen's Cathedral. Contained in Helmuth Furch (Ed.): Fine arts - and many other things - in and from the Leithagebirge. 2006.
  63. ^ Österreichischer Steinmetzmeister-Verband, news of September 13, 1930 .
  64. ^ Wolfgang Zehetner: Annual report of the cathedral master builder. In: The Cathedral. Bulletin of the Vienna Cathedral Association. ZDB ID 1054178-0 . Issue 2/2018. Pp. 2-4.
  65. ^ Archives of St. Stephen's Cathedral.
  66. ↑ a b "City of Vienna: St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna"
  67. ↑ Reinhard H. Gruber: The St. Stephan cathedral in Vienna. Pp. 34-36.
  68. ↑ Dehio, Vienna I, p. 215.
  69. ↑ Renate Kohn: Consecration Crosses and Fools. Evidence of two very different ceremonies in the Valentine's Chapel. In: The Cathedral. Bulletin of the Vienna Cathedral Conservation Association. Published by the Vienna Cathedral Conservation Association. Episode 1/2013. Vienna 2013, pp. 2–7 ( ZDB -ID 1054178-0 ).
  70. ↑ [1]
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  85. ^ Egon Krauss : The wasted opportunity. In: Wochen-Presse, No. 40, October 1, 1969, p. 25
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  87. ↑ Peter Planyavsky: Steps to the Sound Concept. In: Orgelmusikverein St. Stephan (Ed.): Cathedral Organ St. Stephan Vienna. Festschrift for the consecration of the organ on September 13, 1991. Vienna 1991, p. 11ff.
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  93. ↑ Reinhard H. Gruber: The catacombs in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. Verlag Bauer, Vienna 2010.
  94. ↑ The list follows the presentation by Reinhard H. Gruber, Memento Mori. The catacombs in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, editor and publisher: Office of the Church Master of St. Stephen's Cathedral, first edition 2010, pages 22 to 24
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  118. ↑ Bulletin of the Wiener Domerhaltungsvereines; Episode 2/2004 ( online )
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  120. ↑ a b Peter Diem: St. Stephen's Cathedral and its political symbolism. Retrieved February 22, 2018 .
  121. ↑ Land register district court Innere Stadt Vienna, cadastral municipality 01004 Innere Stadt. Deposit number 1234, plots 817 and 818.
  122. ↑ Land register district court Innere Stadt Vienna, cadastral municipality 01004 Innere Stadt. Deposit number 1793, property 1711.
  123. ^ Concordat 1855 .
  124. ↑ Contribution from the parish gazette of the Dompfarre St. Stephan, 56th year / no. December 2, 2000.
  125. ↑ Land register district court Innere Stadt Vienna, cadastral municipality 01004 Innere Stadt. Deposit number 1236, plot 823.
  126. ^ Karl Pikart: One night with the tower keeper of St. Stephan . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna June 29, 1951, p. 5 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  127. ↑ The “fire station” at the tower of St. Stephan ( memento from May 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) by Heinrich Krenn, curator of the Vienna Fire Brigade Museum.
  128. ↑ 3. Steffl Tower Run: Winner Matjaz Miklósa (SLO) pulverized course record ( Memento of the original March 13, 2017 Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link is automatically inserted and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oelv.at
  129. ↑ St. Stephen's Cathedral in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  130. ↑ The stone witness - St. Stephen's Cathedral tells history. 3sat, December 2011, accessed February 22, 2018 .
  131. ↑ The stone witness - St. Stephen's Cathedral tells history on YouTube, December 20, 2016, accessed on February 22, 2018.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Lt. Association for the Preservation of the Stephandome; some other sources give the year 1454, although this year probably refers to another sundial.
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on July 3, 2005 .


Coordinates: 48 ° 12 ′ 30.6 ″  N , 16 ° 22 ′ 23.2 ″  E