St. Stephan´s in Vienna. Artwork and cult objects in context of the written sources

From the 13th century onwards, the cultural significance of St Stephens extended far beyond the city of Vienna and the Habsburg territories. Originally not more than a parish church of the Viennese, the structure saw its first rise under Duke Rudolph IV (1339-1365), the Founder, when it was made into a Habsburg burial site with a college-chapter of 24 canons attached to it. It also accommodated the then founded university (1365) and, finally, rose to the status of a bishops seat (cathedral) in the 15th century. Its architectural appearance changed many times in the course of the centuries until it took its final form with the tall and slender tower and the characteristic, steeply sloped roof. During the construction of the Late Gothic building, its predecessor structure dating from the 13th century was pulled down one compartment after the other. Remaining structures as much as newly erected ones were used for liturgical purposes and served as an important venue for meetings, assemblies and congregations. This suggests a need for a number of works of art and cult objects, most of which have not come down to us in their original condition. For the first time in 200 years of research on St Stephens in Vienna in medieval times, an attempt has been made to fit the building history as well as the history of its furnishings into an overarching concept while considering the impact of the ideas and beliefs of the community behind it. The main focus here is on the presentation of the church as it was seen by its various contemporaries and as it was used during its construction for a host of purposes: parish liturgy, processions, commemorative services, congregations or assemblies, and much more. Painstaking and detailed studies of source material will serve, first, to record the original locations of artwork and cult objects and, second, to find out more about the reasons behind such endowments.

St. Stephens in Vienna has grown over 300 years and has fulfilled various functions: a parish church of the urban population, the representational object of the sovereign princes and Habsburgs, and from 1469 as the bishops cathedral. This site has been an important economic factor of the city for generations and remained accessible to liturgy during its construction. For the first time in the 200-year research history of St. Stephen, an attempt was made to bring the construction and equipment history of St. Stephen`s Cathedral from the Middle Ages into an overall concept to show the ideas of the medieval community. It is about representation of the cathedral as seen by its contemporaries and how they used it during the construction process. In the written sources, a total of 36 altars, various stage artefacts for sermon and music, numerous sculptures, candlesticks, bookcases, chests, chairs, mirrors, sacrificial staves, flags, vestments, altar pieces and several props for liturgical games such as the Palm-donkey, Christ-figures, Holy graves are stated. Files and protocols from the 15th century provide information on a total of 420 masses and their donors, which consisted of all social circles. These directories read like a "Who`s Who" of medieval Viennese society. Liturgical manuscripts and accounting books give information about the numerous processions, masses and funeral rites as well as the financing of the church and construction business. Although all cult artefacts and sculptures mentioned in the written sources are lost today, they can be located in the construction of the church. This makes it clear which building sections could be liturgically recorded, where and which priorities existed in the expansion, where changes in the equipment were made, but above all, which personalities were behind the concepts. It shows a multifaceted picture of donor activity, representation and everyday practice of one of the most prominent buildings of medieval city of Vienna.