"Big Mutter", a sculpture by Austrian artist Erwin Wurm is currently located in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral.
There are more of his sculptures inside the cathedral (which is temporarily closed because of the pandemia), and Wurm even created the lenten cloth.
St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral was largely initiated by Duke Rudolf IV and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches. Usually the square in front of the cathedral is terribly crowded, but with the current exit restrictions it was deserted when I passed by.
The moon over Stephansplatz last Sunday evening.
In Austria we celebrate Christmas this very night: We set up the Christmas tree and light it for the first time, gather around the tree, sing Christmas carols, unwrap the presents and have Christmas dinner and maybe go to the Midnight Mass. Merry Christmas from Vienna! Frohe Weihnachten!
Yesterday afternoon I briefly left the office to get a late lunch and saw this beautiful sky over the Haas Haus and St. Stephen's Cathedral. A nice change to the recent greyness.
To end the small series of Christmas trees and the Christmas holidays here's the tree in front of (foggy) St. Stephen's Cathedral.
St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral was largely initiated by Duke Rudolf IV and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches. Currently it is surrounded by one of Vienna's many Christmas markets.
I have overcome some pretty stressful weeks at work and now that I'm back to "real life" it's already time to prepare for Christmas. Time is really flying! The first Christmas markets have popped up a week ago, as of this weekend all markets will be open. Yesterday afternoon I passed a very new one, the Christmas Market at Stephansplatz, adjacent to St. Stephen's Cathedral. Click here for more information about Vienna's Christmas Markets.
The confectionary "Aida" offers a special souvenir from Vienna - the St. Stephen´s Cathedral made of dark chocolate.
Until December 30th, St. Stephen´s Cathedral is illuminated every day from 4 p.m. until midnight with special transparencies created by students of the University of Applied Arts. Accenting details of the cathedral´s façade, the illumination intends to stop people during the bustling pre-Christmas period in front of St. Stephen´s and make them look at it more carefully.
The construction of the 136m tall southern tower of St. Stephen´s Cathedral, Vienna´s most important religious building, lastet 65 years (1368-1433). During the Siege of Vienna (1529) and the Battle of Vienna (1683) it served as the main observation and command post of the defence of the walled city, and it even cotains an apartment for the watchman who, until 1955, manned the tower at night and rang the bells if fire was spotted in the city.
