In Vienna it is very difficult to encompass the entire history of a “monuments” history in a given day. Because of this I have decided to forgo the days scheduled events and go back to Stephansdom with Melodhie and Natalie in order to learn why it has become a symbol of art and history for the Viennese people.
I’m going to proceed with this blog in the same fashion that the audio guide gave to me. According to the audio tour, St Stephens has been the central place for protection, inspiration and reflection for the Viennese people the last 830 years. It is named after St Stephens, a proto-martyr of the Christian church who was stoned to death at the gates of Jerusalem forty years after the birth of Christ. An image of this can be seen in the high alter of the church, shown below. The original site of Stephansdom housed a small parish church that was built in the Romanesque style in 1137AD. In the 13th century parts of the church were redesigned in the late Romanesque style, and in the 14th century there was a gothic expansion. There were more expansions in the Baroque style (17th-18th centuries) and a renaissance expansion in the 19th century. The church survived onslaughts by the Ottoman Empire, but it was during WWII that the most damage was done to the monument of Vienna. After a fire erupted in the ceiling it collapsed, and the bell of St. Stephens came tumbling into the church. The symbol of the bell in Vienna encompasses all living things, and restoration of the church after the war became an act of independence in Austria as a free and independent country. The bell today stands at 21 metric tons and there are 230,000 glazed tiles on the roof, which are rumored to be in the pattern of a carpet. Services now run in the church one time a day, except on Sundays, when there are 10 then commence. Currently there are 3 dozen individuals that work in and around the church.
The Pummerin and Devotional Figures
In September of 1683, Vienna was besieged by the Ottoman Empire. In response the Polish king, Jan Sobieski III, rushed the city to save it from the Turkish forces. On September 13th of the same year the city of Vienna was liberated. The old Pummerin bell, which hung in Stephensdom, was actually forged out of Turkish cannons that were recovered after the countries defeat. The original Pumemerin met its fate on April 13-14, 1945 (during WWII) when fire from war looters burned through its wooden cradle and the bell crashed down through the church. The bell destroyed key parts of the church and happened to land on a particular statue with devotional figures. Three pieces that did survive were of the Madonna and Child, Emperor Leopold I and Pope Innocent XI. The Viennese felt that it was a sign, or a miracle, that these figures survived; and today they are adorned on the wall inside the cathedral at the base of the south tower.
St Catherine’s Chapel
St Catherine’s Chapel, directly across from the survived icons mentioned above, is a gothic baptismal chapel at the base of the south tower. When you look into the chapel to the left there is a statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, which is the Blessed Virgin Mary in relation to the sorrows in her life. To the right there is another statue of St John the Evangelist. At the front of the vault is a depiction of Saint Catherine depicted with the sword and wheel. Legend says that St Catherine, who is the patron saint of students, scholars and the universities, was tortured to death in 306AD. She was broken on the wheel, which is why she is depicted with both the wheel and the sword. The chapel is still used today and the baptismal fountain is extremely ornate. The marble base originates out of Salzburg and shows the four Evangelists, 12 apostles, Christ and St Stephen. The font that outlines the baptismal fountain is from The Gospel According to Mark and reads: “Go yee into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned.” A randomly cool fact is that Mozart was baptized and married in the chapel, and he later died in Stephansdom.
Madonna and Child
On the next stage of the tour I was able to see a gothic sculpture of the Madonna and Son by an unknown artist. In 1300 it was one of the most superb Madonnas of the time period. Because of the devotional candles around the base of the sculpture it is very difficult to make out what the original color was since it is now black with smoke. I do, however, see hints of red at different angles. Legend has it that a mistress who falsely accused one of her servants of stealing a chain gave the Madonna to Stephansdom as a patron.
Organs
The next stop on the tour was at the “new-new” organ, built in 1991. After the fire in 1945 there was a new organ that was commissioned by Michael Kauffman, which has 125 voices, 4 manuals and 9000 pipes. According to my tour guide from the day before this organ “basically sucked” acoustically and the Viennese people complained. They were also angry because the organ had been financed with public donations. The Austrian firm Rieger built the “new-new” organ, which was designed to fit in with the baroque architecture of the church. The picture below is the newest organ at St Stephens. Due to the positioning of the original organ at the top of the cathedral, as well as problems with light, it was very difficult to get a quality picture.
Tomb of Emperor Frederick III
Emperor Frederick III established bishoprics in both Vienna and Wiener Neustadt, making him the founder of the diocese. It took a total of 45 years to create the king’s sarcophagus, and after he died in 1513 it took eight years to complete before the body could be in its final resting place. The tomb is made of marble and weighs 8 metric tons, which is absolutely insane. There are 240 statues on the body of the tombs and the lid shows the king in his courtly regalia with the coats of arms of all of the territories he ruled over. The tomb is considered one of the greatest surviving sculptures of medieval art today.
The High Altar and Choir Glasswork
The high altar was finished in 1647 and is the first early Baroque altar in Vienna. Is purposely has the shape of a house door and is designed to lead the eye up towards “the doors of Heaven.” The altar depicts St Stephen being stoned before Jerusalem with Heaven awaiting him above. Christ is waiting above to receive St Stephen, who is the first martyr to ascend from earth. Below is a picture of the High Altar. The stained glass behind the altar has parts that are remaining from the 13th century.
The Wiener Neustädter Altar
The Wiener Neustädter Altar is also once of the largest and most complex medieval artworks that is located in Vienna today. The altar is dated from 1447 and was an order made by Emperor Frederik III for the Cistercian Viktring Abbey. After Joseph II closed down numerous abbeys due to his church reforms, the altar was shipped to the town of Wiener Neustadt in 1786. In 1885 it was purchased by St Stephens and displayed until the Great War broke out. It has been in its current position in the chapel since 1952. The altar is a four-panel polyptic that open up to show biblical scenes. It is only opened on holy days and depicts the life of the Virgin Mary.
The Cathedral Pulpit
The pulpit in Stephansdom is a modern wonder of gothic architecture. It was thought to be built by Anton Pilgram but is now largely attributed to Niclaes Gerhaert van Leyden. It is built towards the back of the cathedral near the entrance so that the parishioners of the church could not only hear the sermon but not be distracted to the most important feature of the church, the high altar. Carved into the pulpit are reliefs of the Doctors of the Church: St Augustine, St Jerome, St Gregory and St Ambrose. The base of the pulpit has the six pillars of saints as well as the twelve apostils. The handrail leading up to the pulpit has carvings of wheels with three spokes leading up and four leading down, signifying that the preacher would only bring up what is holy and leave the worldly problems/endeavors “at the door.” There are toads and lizards that represent the fight between good and evil, and the tour guide made sure to point out the carved puppy that would protect the preacher from intruders. Another interesting aspect is underneath the pulpit, referred to as the Window Gazer. This is thought to be the likeness of the person who built the pulpit. The reason that people believe this is that the man has a chisel in one hand and is wearing a hat that signifies that he is working for that class. The guide says that this is one of the most famous aspects of the cathedral.
I feel that the second tour of Stephansdom definitely gave me a better understanding of the history behind Vienna’s treasured cathedral. After the audio tours the girls and I took are all-inclusive tickets and tried to check out the church’s treasury and catacombs. Unfortunately I was not able to take any pictures of the treasury, although I tried (with the flash off!) and was caught (bummer!). We also missed the last tour of the catacombs for the day, of which house the remains of important people to the church and the Hapsburg monarchy. It wasn’t an issue, however, because we could use the ticket to come back again the next day. Instead we decided to climb the north tower of the cathedral and overlook Vienna.
It is very fortunate that I am not afraid of heights because as it turns out Natalie is! I’m proud of her for going up though and let her steal of all my pictures! I was the one that was of course hanging my camera off to the side trying to get a picture that was not blocked by safety bars. The view from the tower was beautiful and gave us a clear shot of the entire city. I was also able to get some good pictures of the roof with the insignia of the two eagles. The “new-new” Pummerin is also located in the north tower, so I got some good shots. By the time we took the elevator down to the ground it was already 5:30PM and we had been at the church since 11!
After taking the elevator down Melodhie and I naively wanted to climb up the south tower as well. We did not know what we had in store for us. After we showed the woman at the counter our ticket she told us that we would have to “run up the stairs” because we only had fifteen minutes left until the place closed for the day. We of course thought this wouldn’t be a problem and proceeded to run up the stairs. Something to keep in mind (which we didn’t) is that the south tower is the highest point in all of Vienna at 445 feet. There is actually an ordinance in the southern part of the city that nothing can be built higher than “Steffl”, as it is lovingly called. We soon realized one fourth of the way up that it was going to take a while to get there. Everyone coming down was sweat drenched and telling us that we weren’t even close to the top. We did, however, battle through all 447 winding stairs to make it to the top with about five minutes to spare. We were both exhausted, sweat drenched and trying to catch our breath. It must have looked pretty pathetic! The gentleman who was taking care of the gift shop at the top (of course there’s a gift shop!) took pity on us and ended up letting us stay up an extra ten minutes. To commemorate the occasion I bought a cheap tote bag to prove that I climbed to the top of Stephansdom! Below are pictures of me immediately when I reached the top (nasty!) and the stairs that we had to climb up!
Even with my all day excursion I still have not seen all of Stephansdom, so I will have to come back again! More to come soon!!
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