Stamp Exhibition - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2008 - 55 Euro Cent

With the third value, the series "On the way to WIPA08" comes to a close - and, as it were, its climax: The triangular-shaped additional stamp shows the most well-known landmark not only in Vienna but in Austria: St. Stephen's Cathedral in the heart of the capital. In addition to the religious center of our country, the cathedral is also an architectural heritage of the highest order - and the symbol of Austrian identity par excellence. If you enter the church from the west, through the giant gate dating back to the 13th century, you are first captured by the statue of Christ standing in a mandorla. In the interior of the church, however, the concept of St. Stephan unfolds clearly and insistently. The oldest part, the west wall with the venerable Romanesque gallery, remained almost unchanged through the centuries, but the rest of the church grew and changed - and so the various architectural styles left their artistic traces. At the beginning of the 19th century, finally, an epoch of renewal began - by safeguarding the building fabric in an outstanding monument preservation manner. It is the undisputed merit of the cathedral master builders of this time, especially Friedrich von Schmidt, who subordinated themselves entirely to the needs of the cathedral. As a stone witness of the Imperishable, St. Stephen's Cathedral had defied adversity for more than 800 years, weathered conflagrations, Turkish sieges and French wars. In the last weeks of the Second World War, however, St. Stephen was not spared from the rage of blind destruction: raiders set fire to the opposite shops, an unfavorable wind drove the flying sparks over the roof and set the north tower on fire. The cathedral seemed lost - but immediately after the end of the war, the miracle of reconstruction began: the people who did not own anything made it possible, through active help and private contributions, to reopen the nave after only three years and then reopen the entire cathedral four years later could be. Today St. Stephen's Cathedral is not only the house of God and witness of the faith, but also an impressive testimony of the love of the people of this city to their "Steffl".