Structures - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 1959 - 1 Shilling

The brand image shows the Mariazell Basilica with its characteristic Gothic central tower and two baroque side towers. In the foreground you can see some of the stalls selling devotional items grouped around the church. According to an ancient tradition, monk Magnus, sent by Abbot Otko of St. Lambrecht in Styria, settled around 1157 in Mariazell to practice the "pastoral care of the shepherd people living there". He built there a small chapel, which is to be regarded as the root of today's large Austrian pilgrimage site and the Basilica of Mariazell. In 1957, in which the 800th anniversary of this place of grace was celebrated, extensive renovations to the basilica had been completed, which was mainly to secure the building stock. The present-day three-towered, mighty structure, whose length and width are around 85 and 30 meters respectively, and whose dome space is around 40 meters high, dates back to Misox in Grisons, Domenico Sciassia, who executed it from 1644 to 1673. This building had at least two predecessors, a Romanesque, which was begun after a recent inscription on the main portal around the year 1200, and a Gothic, of which the present-day nave with the vestibule, the west portal and the central tower have been preserved despite the generous baroque reconstruction , Unlike the two predecessors in engraving and letterpress printing, this brand no longer has two, but only one, the designer's name at the bottom of the brand.