ST. STEPHEN’S

Vienna, Austria

This building is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna. The Romanesque / Gothic design stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first consecrated in 1147. The most important religious building in Vienna, St. Stephen's Cathedral has borne witness to many important events in Austrian history and has, with its multi-colored tile roof, become the city's most recognizable symbol. The belfry has 256 stairs, which I summited on April 7, 2024. The challenge was not the steps, but the narrow 6-foot diameter tube, through which the spiral steps ascended, sans handrail - scary. During World War II, the cathedral was saved from intentional destruction at the hands of retreating German forces, when Captain Gerhard Klinkicht disregarded orders from the commandant to "fire a hundred shells and reduce it to rubble".  

On this visit to the city, my third-floor hotel room faced the cathedral, and is where this sketch was done from. It had to be a late afternoon sketch, to catch the sun revealing the depth of the façade detail. While gazing at the cathedral and plaza, it was easy to imagine myself back to the middle ages, among a throng of parishioners, and a holy procession emerging from the great doors, with trumpets and banners. The glories of yesterday. That afternoon, there was a demonstration in the plaza, with the crowd chanting slogans and dozens of Israeli flags waving about.