The cathedral was first built as a
parish church, in 1147, and rebuilt and enlarged over the
centuries, with major new work concluding in 1511, although repair
and restoration have continued from the beginning to the present
day.
It was previously thought that the
church had been built in an open field outside the city walls; but
excavations for a long-awaited heating system during 2000 revealed
graves that were carbon-dated to the fourth century, 8 feet (2.5
meters) below the surface. The 430 skeletons were then moved to the
catacombs. Thousands of others must have been buried in the ancient
cemetery of this neighbourhood, starting in Roman times; and this,
instead of the Ruprechtskirche, may be the oldest church
site in Vienna.
The
first recorded church here was founded in 1137, by Duke Leopold IV in a
contract with Reginmar, Bishop of Passau. The church was dedicated
to St. Stephen, the patron of the bishop's cathedral in Passau. The
first church building was built in the Romanesque style and
consecrated ten years later. The present west wall and Roman towers
date from 1237. After a great fire in the city in 1258, a larger
replacement structure, also Romanesque and reusing the Roman
towers, was consecrated, on 23 April 1263, an anniversary
highlighted each year by a rare ringing of the Pummerin bell for three minutes in the
evening.
In
1304, Emperor Albert I ordered construction of a Gothic
three-naved choir, further east of the church and wide enough to
meet the tips of the old transepts. Work continued under his son Duke Albert II; this latest work was
consecrated in 1340, on the 77th anniversary of the previous
consecration. The motif of the north nave furnishings was St. Mary; the middle nave was for St.
Stephen and All the Saints; and the Apostles were honoured in
the south nave. This part of the present cathedral, east of the
present stubby transepts, is called the Albertine
Choir.
In
1359, Albert II's son Duke Rudolf IV, who is called "the founder",
laid, in the vicinity of the present south tower, the cornerstone
for a Gothic extension of Albert's choir westward, to encapsulate
the existing second church. That old church was then removed from
inside the new one.
The Stephansdom was saved from intentional destruction at the
hands of retreating German forces during World War II, when Captain
Gerhard Klinkicht disregarded orders from the city commandant, Sepp Dietrich, to "fire a hundred shells
and leave it in just debris and ashes".
One
of the fires set by plunderers when Russian troops entered the city
was carried by the wind to the cathedral, severely damaging it on
12 April 1945. Fortunately, protective brick shells had been built
around the pulpit, Frederick III's tomb, and other treasures, so
that damage to the most valuable artworks was minimized.
Unfortunately, the beautifully carved choir stalls from 1487 were
burned. Rebuilding began immediately, with a limited reopening on
12 December 1948 and a full reopening on 23 April 1952
The Romanesque and gothic cathedral is
107 meters (351 feet) long and 34 meters (111.5 feet) wide. The
soot accumulated over centuries has been removed in recent years,
changing its colour from black to white.
More Information about the Cathedral
her interesting
exterior and interior you
can find in Wikipedia in english and german
language from where the history of the cathedral is leaned
out for this
listing.
Happy waymarking
Ras Tafari