Churches of Eastern Europe - III

The third city on our Danube cruise, and the third capital city,  was Vienna, Austria. Our ship, the Viking Prestige, docked next to another sister ship, the Viking Freya.  And I mean next to--try three inches.  We had to pass through the small entrance of the Freya to make our way onto the wide concrete dock, where buses would take us into the city.

Seventy years after the end of World War Two Vienna looks decidedly prosperous.  Huge Gothic government buildings were under renovation.  The University of Vienna, founded 650 years ago, is filled with beautiful buildings and waves of designer-jean-clad young people.  The subway system is modern, clean and efficient. (You can see a brief scene of the Vienna subway in the just released Tom Cruise thriller, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.  As I watched the movie, I smiled and thought, hey, I was on that platform!)  

After a three hour bus tour of the city, my friends Jackie, Alice and I decided not to take the bus back to our floating hotel.  Rather, we departed in the center of the city and enjoyed strolling in the sunshine.   Jackie bought two stylish G. Klink scarfs, I bought post-cards, and we found the stuffy Sacher Hotel.  There we ordered lunch, and for dessert enjoyed the world famous Sacher Torte--chocolate cake with whipped cream.  Despite the obvious fact of our American tourist look, the wait staff was kind and cheerful.

Before we headed back to the ship via the subway system, we entered St. Stephan's Cathedral (Stephansdom).  People were coming and going throughout the church, so that it was packed with noisy crowds and many families with little children.  It was also dark.  Portions of the church nearer the altar and sanctuary were roped off to us hoi polloi.  These spaces were only open and available for visitors if you paid for a church-sponsored tour.  I confess that both on the inside and the outside I didn't appreciate St. Stephan's beauty.  From the inside it was dark.  The outside had a very small square, which didn't give a proper perspective on the roof or the two smaller towers and one large tower.  

I did manage to get an English language copy of a tour book of the Cathedral.  I've found these glossy paper, full color booklets (usually available for 7 or 8 euros) an excellent way  to get superb photographs of both the big picture and the little details of the church.  They also give more detail about the history and architecture of the building than you could ever get from a human guide.  What I say here mostly comes from the booklet.

The origins of St. Stephen's goes back to 1147, when the reigning diocese was Passau, further up the Danube River.  Over the centuries a church grew, according to the periods of peace between wars.  This building was only consecrated in 1263, in a late Romanesque style.  Various expansions over the next centuries brought about a choir and several towers in the Baroque style.  The diocese of Vienna was established in 1469, with St. Stephan's now designated the cathedral.  Wars with the Turks in the 16th and 17th centuries left their mark in cannon balls in the walls, and long stretches where no construction was done on the building.  

At the end of World War Two (April 11 and 12, 1945), fires in surrounding buildings lept onto the church and destroyed 45% of the cathedral, including all of the 19th century stained glass windows and many treasures.  The bishop, Cardinal Theodor Innitzer, was "unflagging" in his determination to rebuild St. Stephan's Cathedral.  A solemn inauguration of the rebuilt cathedral was held a remarkable seven years later, in 1952; new bells installed in 1960; and Pope (Saint) John Paul II paid two pastoral visits in 1983 and 1988.  

There is no way I can do justice to the symbolism, architectural styles, statues of over 100 saints, or historic treasures in St. Stephan's Cathedral.   Here is just one example from the booklet:

Seven is a sacred number representing perfection.  Recall the seven sacrament of the Catholic Church or the seven original church deacons -- one of whom was St. Stephan -- or the Book of the Apocalypse with its seven seals.

Based on the numbers three and four,the dimensions of the cathedral can be calculated rather precisely: placing a seven after the three results in the number 37.  Three times 37 results in three times the one, namely, 111.

The cathedral's breadth is 111 feet.  Three times 111 -- 333 feet -- constitutes the length of the cathedral.  four times 111 -- 444 feet -- is the height of the South Tower.  Seven times seven times seven -- 343 -- is the number of steps leading to the tower chamber of the high tower.

In 1457 Aeneas Silvio Picolomini, an adviser to Emperor Friedrich III, who would later become Pope Pius III, wrote, "St. Stephan's Cathedral is far more magnificent than could ever be expressed in words."  To which I say, Amen.