St. Stephan's Cathedral 1

The Stephansdom (Cathedral of Saint Stephen), in Vienna, Austria, is the seat of a Roman Catholic Archbishop, a beloved symbol of Vienna, and the site of many important events in Austria's national life.

The cathedral was first built as a parish church, in 1147, and rebuilt and enlarged over the centuries, with major new work concluding in 1511, although repair and restoration have continued from the beginning to the present day.

It was previously thought that the church had been built in an open field outside the city walls; but excavations for a long-awaited heating system during 2000 revealed graves that were carbon-dated to the fourth century, 8 feet (2.5 meters) below the surface. The 430 skeletons were then moved to the catacombs. Thousands of others must have been buried in the ancient cemetery of this neighborhood, starting in Roman times; and this, instead of St. Ruprecht's Church, may be the oldest church site in Vienna.

The first recorded church here was founded in 1137, by Duke Leopold IV in a contract with Reginmar, Bishop of Passau. The church was dedicated to St. Stephen, the patron of the bishop's cathedral in Passau. The first church building was built in the Romanesque style and consecrated ten years later. The present west wall and Roman towers date from 1237. After a great fire in the city in 1258, a larger replacement structure, also Romanesque and reusing the Roman towers, was consecrated, on 23 April 1263, an anniversary highlighted each year by a rare ringing of the Pummerin bell for three minutes in the evening.

In 1304, Emperor Albert I ordered construction of a Gothic three-naved choir, further east of the church and wide enough to meet the tips of the old transepts. Work continued under his son Duke Albert II; this latest work was consecrated in 1340, on the 77th anniversary of the previous consecration. The motif of the north nave furnishings was St. Mary; the middle nave was for St. Stephen and All the Saints; and the Apostles were honored in the south nave. This part of the present cathedral, east of the present transepts, is called the Albertine Choir.

In 1359, his son Duke Rudolf IV, who is called "the founder", laid, in the vicinity of the present south tower, the cornerstone for a Gothic extention of Albert's choir westward, to encapsulate the existing second church. That old church was then removed from inside the new one.

The Stephansdom was saved from intentional destruction at the hands of retreating German forces during World War II, when Captain Gerhard Klinkicht disregarded orders from the city commandant, Sepp Dietrich, to "fire a hundred shells and leave it in just debris and ashes".

One of the fires set by plunderers when Russian troops entered the city was carried by the wind to the cathedral, severely damaging it on 12 April 1945. Fortunately, protective brick shells had been built around the Pulpit, Frederick III's tomb, and other treasures, so that damage to the most valuable artworks was minimzed. Unfortunately, the beautifully carved choir stalls from 1487 were burned. Rebuilding began immediately, with a limited reopening on 12 December 1948 and a full reopening on 23 April 1952.

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