St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

St. Stephen’s Cathedral; Credit – By Bwag – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34672766

St. Stephen’s Cathedral, which this writer has visisted, is dedicated to St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr. It is the main church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna, Austria, and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. In 1137, construction began on the first St. Stephen’s Church. The church in the Romanesque style, which was probably not completely finished at the time, was consecrated in 1147. A second Romanesque church was constructed from 1200 – 1225. Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339 – 1365) commissioned a major extension of the previous church and also founded the University of Vienna before his early death at age 25.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral survived the bombing raids during World War II. However, on April 12, 1945, during the final days of the war, civilian looters lit fires in nearby shops as the Soviet Army troops entered Vienna. Winds carried the fire to the cathedral, severely damaging the roof and causing it to collapse. Fortunately, protective brick shells built around the pulpit, Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III’s tomb, and other treasures prevented major damage to the interior except for the 1487 choir stalls which could not be saved. Reconstruction began immediately after the war and St. Stephen’s Cathedral was reopened in 1952.

Double-headed Habsburg eagle on the roof; Credit – Von kodiak – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1820946

The original wooden roof was replaced by a roof of 230,000 colored glazed tiles in a zig-zag pattern. On the south side of the cathedral, the tiles form the double-headed eagle, a symbol of the Habsburg dynasty, and on the north side, the tiles form the coats of arms of the City of Vienna and the Republic of Austria.

The coats of arms of the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63314921

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Altars

St. Stephen’s Cathedral has eighteen altars and additional altars in the various chapels. The High Altar and the Wiener Neustadt Altar are the most famous.

The High Altar; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63298940

The High Altar was built from 1641 – 1647 by Johann Jacob Pock (link in German), a stonemason, sculptor, and architect, and by his brother painter Tobias Pock who painted the altarpiece. The High Altar shows the stoning of the cathedral’s patron saint St. Stephen in front of the walls of Jerusalem.

Wiener Neustädter Altar, Sunday panels; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56638264

The Wiener Neustädter Altar made in 1447 is considered the most important altar in the cathedral. It is a pentaptych, a convertible altar with a main shrine, two movable outer and two movable inner wings. On weekdays, the panels are closed and display a painted scene involving 72 saints. On Sundays, the panels are opened showing gilded wooden figures depicting events in the life of the Virgin Mary. Originally, the altar was given as a gift by Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III to the Cistercian Viktring Abbey. In 1786, the altar was sent to the Cistercian monastery of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, founded by Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich III, in the city of Wiener Neustadt. When the Wiener Neustadt monastery was closed after merging with Heiligenkreuz Abbey in 1885, the altar was sold to St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

Wiener Neustädter Altar weekday panels; Credit – Von Uoaei1 – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25932276

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Pulpit

Pulpit at St. Stephen’s Cathedral; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66368821

The carved stone pulpit has long been attributed to Austrian sculptor and architect Anton Pilgram but today it is thought that Dutch sculptor Nikolaus Gerhaert van Leyden is more likely to be the carver. The pulpit stands against a pillar in the nave, instead of in the chancel at the front of the church. This placement of the pillar would allow the congregation to better hear the sermon before the advent of microphones and loudspeakers. Beneath the stairs is a stone self-portrait of the sculptor looking out a window. The chisel in the subject’s hand and the stonemason’s signature mark on the shield above the window led to the speculation that it could be a self-portrait of the sculptor.

Stone self-portrait of the sculptor looking out a window; Credit – Von Markus Leupold-Löwenthal – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3868897

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Tomb of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor

Tomb of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Von Bwag – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56696439

Friedrich III (1415 – 1493) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death. In 1469, he succeeded in obtaining the necessary permissions from Pope Paul II to establish the Diocese of Vienna. Upon his death, Friedrich was interred in the Ducal Crypt at St. Stephen’s Cathedral. In 1463, thirty years before his death, Friedrich commissioned Dutch sculptor Nikolaus Gerhaert van Leyden to build a monumental tomb in St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Van Leyden died in 1473 and the work was completed by Austrian stonemason and sculptor Michael Tichter (link in German). On November 12, 1513, the remains of Friedrich III, Holy Roman Emperor were transferred in a grand ceremony from the Ducal Crypt to the tomb. The tomb lid shows Emperor Friedrich in his coronation regalia surrounded by the coats of arms of all his dominions. The sides of the tomb are decorated with 240 small statues. The tomb is considered a masterpiece of medieval sculptural art.

Depiction of the tomb lid; Credit – Von Georges Jansoone – Selbst fotografiert, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1061466

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Royal Events at St. Stephen’s Cathedral

1989 Funeral of Zita of Bourbon-Parma, wife of Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria

This may not be a complete list.

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What is Separate Burial?

A separate burial is a form of partial burial in which internal organs are buried separately from the rest of the body. Separate burials of the heart, viscera (the intestines), and the body were common in the House of Habsburg starting with the death of Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans in 1654 until the death of Archduke Franz Karl in 1878. Ferdinand IV of the Romans (1633 – 1654), son of Holy Emperor Ferdinand III, had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and requested that his heart be interred in the Loreto Chapel at the Augustinekirche in Vienna. This established the tradition of interring the hearts of members of the Habsburg family in a crypt alongside the heart of Ferdinand IV. Until then, the hearts of Habsburgs had mostly been buried with the body in the coffin at the Imperial Crypt in the nearby Capuchin Church in Vienna or in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna where the entrails of the Habsburgs were traditionally interred. With the death of Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans, it became traditional for the body to be interred in the Imperial Crypt in the Capuchin Church in Vienna, the heart to be placed in an urn in the Herzgruft, the Heart Crypt in the Loreto Chapel of the Augustinerkirche in Vienna, and the entrails to be placed in an urn in the Ducal Crypt of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna.

After the end of the monarchy in 1918, some members of the Habsburg family resumed the tradition of heart burial but not viscera burial. When Karl I, the last Emperor of Austria, died in 1922, he was not allowed to be buried in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna and instead was buried at the Church of Our Lady of Monte on the island of Madeira in Portugal. His heart remained with his widow Empress Zita until it was interred in the Loreto Chapel of the Muri Monastery in Switzerland in 1971. When Empress Zita died in 1989, her body was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna and her heart was interred with her husband’s heart in the Loreto Chapel of the Muri Monastery in Switzerland. Karl and Zita’s son Otto von Habsburg, the last Crown Prince of Austria, requested that his heart be buried in the crypt of the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma in Hungary. His body was interred in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church. The body of Otto’s wife Regina of Saxe-Meiningen was also interred in the Imperial Crypt but she requested that her heart be interred in her family’s crypt at Veste Heldburg (link in German) in Heldburg, Germany.

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Royal Burials in the Ducal Crypt

Coffins in the Ducal Crypt; Credit – Von Burkhard Mücke – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54225621

In the Ducal Crypt (German: Herzogsgruft), located beneath the chancel of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, sixteen bodies of members of the House of Habsburg are buried along with copper urns containing the viscera (intestines) of members of the Habsburg dynasty. When Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339 – 1365) commissioned an extension of the previous church, he also ordered a crypt to be built for his remains. After Rudolf IV, the family of the ruling line of Habsburg Dukes of Austria was buried here. However, after the House of Habsburg became Holy Roman Emperors beginning in 1440, they were buried in various cities as Vienna was not yet the settled seat of the Holy Roman Emperor. After the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna opened in 1633, it became the new burial site of the House of Habsburg.

In 1956, the Ducal Crypt was renovated and redesigned, with the coffins moved into the oval crypt space and niches built into the rectangular crypt space, in which the urns with entrails were placed behind gates.

The bodies of the following members of the House of Habsburg are interred in the Ducal Crypt:

  • King Friedrich III of the Romans, Duke of Austria (1289 – 1330), originally buried at Mauerbach Monastery, which he had founded. He was reburied at St. Stephen’s Cathedral after the monastery was dissolved in 1782.
  • Friedrich III, Duke of Austria (1347 – 1362) – son of Albrecht II, Duke of Austria
  • Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339 – 1365) – son of Albrecht II, Duke of Austria
  • Catherine of Bohemia, Duchess of Austria (1342 – 1395) – wife of Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria
  • Albrecht III, Duke of Austria (1348 – 1395) – son of Albrecht II, Duke of Austria
  • Albrecht IV, Duke of Austria (1377 – 1404) – son of Albrecht III, Duke of Austria
  • Wilhelm, Duke of Austria (1370 – 1406) – son of Leopold III, Duke of Austria
  • Leopold IV, Duke of Austria (1371 – 1411) – son of Leopold III, Duke of Austria
  • Duke Georg (born and died 1435) – infant son of Albrecht II, King of the Romans, Duke of Austria
  • Albrecht VI, Archduke of Austria (1418 – 1463) – son of Ernst I, Duke of Austria
  • Archduke Ferdinand of Austria (1551 – 1552) – son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II
  • Eleonora Gonzaga, Holy Roman Empress (1598 – 1655) – second wife of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, originally buried in the Discalced Carmelites convent she founded in Vienna. In 1782, she was reburied at St. Stephen’s Cathedral after the convent was dissolved.
  • Archduchess Maria of Austria (born and died 1564) – daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II
  • Archduke Karl of Austria (1565 – 1566) – son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II
  • Elisabeth of Austria, Queen of France (1554 – 1592) – daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, wife of King Charles IX of France, originally buried at the Convent of Poor Clares Mary, Queen of Angels, also known as the Queen’s Monastery, which she founded in Vienna. In 1782, she was reburied at St. Stephen’s Cathedral after the convent was dissolved.

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A Note About Two Habsburg Rulers

Empress Maria Theresa; Credit – Wikipedia

Empress Maria Theresa: Born Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, she was the second and eldest surviving child of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. Her only brother died several weeks before she was born and her two younger siblings were sisters. The fact that Maria Theresa’s father did not have a male heir caused many problems. Maria Theresa’s right to succeed to her father’s Habsburg territories in her own right was the cause of the eight-year-long War of the Austrian Succession. Upon her father’s death in 1740, Maria Theresa became the sovereign in her own right of all the Habsburg territories which included Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands, and Parma. However, she was unable to become the sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire because she was female. The Habsburgs had been elected Holy Roman Emperors since 1438, but in 1742 Karl Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria and Prince-Elector of Bavaria from the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII. He died in 1745 and via a treaty Maria Theresa arranged for her husband Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine to be elected Holy Roman Emperor. Despite the snub, the formidable Maria Theresa wielded the real power and in reality, ruled the Holy Roman Empire. She is generally referred to by historians simply as Empress Maria Theresa and that is how she is referred to in this article.

Emperor Franz I of Austria, formerly Holy Roman Emperor Franz II; Credit – Wikipedia

Holy Roman Emperor Franz II = Emperor Franz I of Austria: Upon the death of his father Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II in 1792, Franz was elected the last Holy Roman Emperor and reigned as Holy Roman Emperor Franz I. Franz feared that Napoleon Bonaparte could take over his personal Habsburg territories within the Holy Roman Empire, so in 1804 he proclaimed himself Emperor Franz I of Austria and reigned until he died in 1835. Franz’s decision proved to be a wise one. Two years later, after Napoleon’s victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved and lands that had been held by the Holy Roman Emperor were given to Napoleon’s allies creating the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Kingdom of Württemberg, and the Grand Duchy of Baden. Franz is referred to as Emperor Franz I of Austria in this article.

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Royal Viscera Burials

In the foreground are the gated niches with urns containing the viscera of members of the House of  Habsburgs; Credit – By Bwag – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66345452

Gated niches in the original burial vault outside the entrance to the current burial vault contain the copper urns with the viscera (intestines) of the following members of the House of Habsburg.

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