Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in 1683 as the city was about to be overrun by the Ottoman Turks. He volunteered for the
army and helped save the city, launching a brilliant career as a military man for the Habs-
burgs.HisspecialtywasconqueringtheOttomans.Whenhedied,thegratefulAustriansbur-
ied him here, under this chapel, marked by a tomb hatch in the floor.
• Nearby is the entrance to the main nave. Buy a ticket and start down the nave toward the
altar.
At the second pillar on the left is the Gothic sandstone pulpit (c. 1500), a masterpiece
carvedfromthreeseparateblocks(seeifyoucanfindtheseams).Aspiralstairwaywindsup
to the lectern, surrounded and supported by the four church “fathers,” whose writings influ-
enced early Catholic dogma. The pulpit is as crammed with religious meaning as it is with
beautifully realistic carvings. The top of the stairway's railing swarms with lizards (animals
of light) and toads (animals of darkness). The “Dog of the Lord” stands at the top, making
sure none of those toads pollutes the sermon. Below the toads, wheels with three parts (the
Trinity)rollup,whilewheelswithfourspokes(thefourseasonsandfourcardinaldirections,
symbolizing mortal life on earth) roll down.
Find the guy peeking out from under the stairs. This may be a
self-portrait
of the
sculptor. In medieval times, art was done for the glory of God, and artists worked anonym-
ously. But this pulpit was carved as humanist Renaissance ideals were creeping in from
Italy—and individual artists were becoming famous. So the artist included what may be a
rare self-portrait bust in his work.
• Continue up toward the main altar. When you reach the gate that cuts off the front of the
nave, turn right and enter the south transept. Go all the way to the doors.
Look to the left to find a
plaque
commemorating Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791), who spent most of his adult life in Vienna. He attended Mass and was married
inSt.Stephen's,andhadtwoofhischildrenbaptized here.Hesetuphouseinalavishapart-
ment a block east of the church (this house is now the lackluster Mozarthaus museum, de-
scribedearlier).MozartlivedattheepicenterofViennesesociety—amongmusicians,actors,
and aristocrats. He played in a string quartet with Joseph Haydn. At church, he would have
heard Beethoven's teacher playing the organ. (Mozart may have met the star-struck young
Beethoven in Vienna—or maybe not; accounts vary.)
After his early success, Mozart fell on hard times. When he died at age 35 (in 1791),
he was not buried at St. Stephen's, because the cemetery that once surrounded the church
had been cleared out a decade earlier as an anti-plague measure. Instead, his remains (along
with most Viennese of his day) were dumped into a mass grave outside of town. But he was
honoredwithafuneralserviceinSt.Stephen's—heldinthePrinceEugeneofSavoyChapel,
where they played his famous (unfinished)
Requiem
.
• Now head to the chapel at the front-right corner of the church.
